


Truth Be Told

by smileyqueen



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Drama, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, F/M, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Sexual Content, Underage Drinking, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-02-02 22:25:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12735534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smileyqueen/pseuds/smileyqueen
Summary: Lauren Dabney is a typical North Sider, with rich parents who couldn't care less about her wellbeing. Just as her life seems to get back on track, her friend Peyton and her get involved in the cover-up of a crime and Lauren has to rely on the help of  Sweet Pea, a South Side Serpent she definitely should not hang out with. And if that wasn't enough a serial killer takes interest in Lauren's and Peyton's sins.





	1. Alibi

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that I'm not a native speaker which is why mistakes may appear.

"Haven't you been talking to that Serpent guy?" Peyton gave to thought.  
"Yeah. I have, why?"  
"I would say that would be your alibi" she suggested.  
Lauren was distraught. She couldn't think clear. How the hell could a Serpent act as an alibi? No one in this town would ever believe someone like him. And Sweet Pea was not the kind of guy to give out favors.  
"How?" Lauren asked.  
She rolled her eyes: "You go to his trailer and have sex with him, stay the night. That's your alibi. Serpents like making conquests right. He's probably gonna brag about it."  
It was clear to her that her schoolmate really had no idea about Sweet Pea, but she was not about to correct Peyton. Her friends idea was certainly better than doing nothing.  
"OK. I'll do that when the others return. What will you do?"  
"I have no idea. Maybe I'll go to Reggie."  
"Eww. Reggie? He's such a douche, though."  
"And your Serpent guy isn't?", she replied.  
"Touché", Lauren said. Peyton did not say anything but only rolled her eyes. "I really have to meet your guy if he is as attractive as he is."  
"I don't know if you want to, he has real bad anger issues" Lauren answered and sat down on the grass. She was still freezing and it was not getting better. Ethan and Mia were still nowhere to be seen.  
"Isn't having anger issues a necessity to join a gang?"  
Lauren only smiled. 

 

"Peyton."

The other girl looked up and looked at her solemnly. 

"What if they won't come back and leave us out here to put the blame on after?"

"Then it's their word against ours", Peyton replied level-headed. 

"And what if they're already out there creating an alibi for themselves?"  
Peyton sighed, seemed to think about her words, and carefully chose her next words:"We'll wait another thirty minutes and if they aren't here by then, we'll go and create our alibis."  
Lauren agreed and the next minutes were filled with utter silence. Lauren did not know what she was wishing for so to calm her nerves she thought about all the instances Sweet Pea had flirted with her. It calmed her to think about the fact that in a few minutes she would lie in his arms with nothing to worry about. These days it was a good thing to have a Serpent on your side.  
"Two minutes left" Peyton whispered against the wind. Lauren fought back a sob and hugged her torso to keep herself from shivering too much.  
"One minute."  
"Time is over." No one was there. Only the howling wind kept them company.  
"Fuck. And now?" Lauren asked afraid. She never thought about what would happen if Ethan and Mia did not fulfill their word.  
"We drive to my house and go shower so we don't stink anymore. Then you go over to the South Side to search for your Serpent" Peyton sat patiently and took Lauren by the hand to lead her out of the forest, to find Peyton's car but instead of the car they found nothing.  
"They stole your car" Lauren clarified against the wind and bit her lip. She wanted to cry so badly. Everything was going wrong. She hated this day and wanted to erase it out of it history.  
"Fuckers" Peyton cursed under her breath but then composed herself.  
"OK. The South Side is just under a mile away from here so you will just go there by foot."  
"I think I need to use your perfume again before I leave" Lauren whispered.  
She was not about to go enter the South Side reeking like a criminal. Even though she was one now. What an irony, that she was about to seek an alibi from someone who was wildly regarded as one.  
So she sprayed herself with Peyton's perfume. 

 

"Well at least you don't stink anymore, you still look like a mess though."  
"Good, maybe they'll leave me alone if I look like that." Peyton just smiled, grabbed her make-up bag and then told Lauren to close her eyes. Five minutes later Peyton had fixed Lauren's hair and complexion.  
"OK. Do you know where to walk to stay save?"  
Lauren swallowed and got the ring out of her pocket.  
"Is that... a snake ring?" Peyton said staring wide-eyed at the silver ring Lauren held in her hand.  
"How did you get this?" she asked, touching it gingerly. Lauren shrugged her shoulders: "He gave me this so I could walk around the South Side without someone jumping me."  
"Wow, he really must like having sex with you" Peyton said hysterically laughing.  
"We never have..." Lauren clarified awkwardly.  
"That's good though, Lauren."  
"How?"  
"If today is the first time you have sex with him, he will definitely work as the perfect alibi."  
Lauren just nodded, told Peyton to take care of herself and then walked towards the South Side. The ring on her finger gave her some comfort but she did still feel jittery and preferred to take the roads Sweet Pea had said were safe for her to use. Still she kept her head low and did not take of her hood. She only stopped when she saw his trailer. She concentrated on her breathing for a few minutes before she stopped forward to see if he was home. She saw his frame move through the window. She looked through the other window to make sure he was alone. Then she climbed the steps and gingerly knocked at the door. She was so nervous that she thought she was going to throw up. She had never thought she would actually ever do this, despite the insane amount of attraction she felt towards him. She had never felt the need to bring herself into situations she could not leave but arguably having sex with a Serpent was not the worst thing she would do tonight.

Lauren held her breath as the door slowly opened and a perplex Sweet Pea stood in front of her. He probably expected a nastier visitor, the voice inside her head whispered.  
Sweet Pea looked handsome as always. 

He wore one those t-shirts that clung to his body like a second skin and his Serpent jacket on top of that. Lauren would never voice this, but she found the jacket insanely attractive on him. Sometimes she fantasized about wearing it, which she would make herself forget right after. Thoughts like that were dangerous. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Sweet Pea grinned. "Change your mind?" he asked licking his lips and Lauren had to stop herself from obsessively staring at his lips. It did not help that she knew she would feel them on hers soon. "Don't let it go to your head" she bit back. Sweet Pea grinned wider and looked at her while she fidgeted with her legs.

"What are you doing?" he asked bewildered. "It's cold" she replied blunt, hoping he would take the hint. He shook his head, still smiling. "Come in" he said and remained standing there, leaning against the wall as she stepped inside. She sighed as she felt the warm air. She took of her jacket and then sat down on a kitchen stool for a moment to catch her breath. 

 

Sweet Pea closed the door, then walked towards and stopped right in front of her. He put hands on the handles and then leaned down so his face was almost too close to hers. "Tell me, why are you here?" he whispered. 

His low voice almost made Lauren tremble and she decided to make the move she was so afraid of. She stood up abruptly, knocking Sweet Pea's arms from the handles.  
She took the moment of surprise, took his jacket in her hands and yanked him towards her, stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his.  
Sweet Pea moved fast, his left hand steadying her back, while the other one´was located on her face. Lauren moved her hands away from his jacket and locked her hands behind his neck. It didn't take him a lot of time to take control, as his tongue crept inside her mouth. Sweet Pea nudged at her hair and loosened the carefully made up ponytail so her hair fell down her shoulders. 

Lauren moved them a few steps so she could lean against the wall because her legs were undoubtedly shaking a bit. Sweet Pea took the chance and dislodged his lips from hers. Lauren let out a tiny whimper at the loss of contact.  
Sweet Pea grinned at her: "Finally gave in, huh?" Lauren bit her lip, and then yanked his body back against hers. He gasped at the feeling and Lauren grinned: "Desperate much?" "Shut up" he growled. "Make me" she whispered into his ear. Sweet Pea didn't let her wait and attacked her mouth again. At the same, Lauren tugged at his jacket to get it off of his body. Then she proceeded with his shirt until his torso was free of all clothes,  
despite his dog tag necklace. 

He let go of her to remove her shirt and bit his lips as he saw her black bra with green laces.  
"Like it?" she whispered and put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's move" he said, and grabbed her by her legs. Lauren got the message and jumped up, so he could carry towards her bed. There he let her fall on the bed and Lauren took the chance and unbuttoned her pants while watching Sweet Pea intently. She ignored the urge to smirk and made sure to make a scene out of simply getting rid of her pants. 

Sweet Pea watched attentively which made the whole thing even hotter. The anticipation made her skin prickle and she could feel herself getting wet. Goddamn, why the hell had she waited so long for this? 

When she finally was naked to her underwear, Sweet Pea took his time to unbutton his pants and then crept towards her and Lauren only dared to breathe again when he was placed in top of her, his hands holding him so he would not crush her with his weight. Lauren wondered how that would feel but lost that train of thought when Sweet Pea pressed his lips against her neck following her body down but stopping in between. "Tease" she whispered and could feel him smirking against her skin.  
She grabbed his hair and tugged at it which earned her a groan from him.  
Laurens skin heated up and she chocked when Sweet Pea unhooked her bra and put her breasts free. 

Her choke evolved to a full blown groan when his lips touched her nipples. He played with them with his tongue for a while and only let go when Lauren was a moaning mess.  
"What" she muttered being a complete mess and angry at the loss of touch. "I have something better for you" he whispered against her ear and kissed her. Her body followed his and pressed against the hard length in his boxers which made Sweet Pea moan into the kiss. His moan made its way strictly down her legs and she was tempted to rub herself against him. But Sweet Pea kept her from and kissed his way down her stomach. Lauren watched him with desire filled eyes and held her breath as his finger crept into her lacy panties. Right before he touched her he held on and Lauren willowed a frustrated groan. 

"Just do it" she bit at him. Sweet Pea grinned almost lovingly at her and then proceeded to let his finger glide between her legs. Lauren moaned loudly and her hips instinctively moved into the air but Sweet Pea put a hand on her stomach, making sure she couldn't do that which took her breathe away even more. Sweet Pea continued preparing her with one finger and after a while Lauren could not stand it anymore. "I want more" she growled at him. He did not smirk but bit his lips which told Lauren that he was just as turned on as she was.  
"Oh really. How does that feel then?" he asked cockily as he added another finger.  
"Yes. That feels so good, so good" she told him breathlessly. Her hands gripped the bedsheets as he moved his fingers in her. When he hit that spot in her, she saw stars and moaned his name, not caring about how loud she was.

Sweet Pea's free hand grabbed one of her nipples and she was a goner. She closed her eyes, craning her neck and let her body spasms to the relentless pumps of Sweet Pea's fingers. She took deep breaths and Sweet Pea took his fingers out of her, resulting in a feeling of loss that she decided to compensate with something that would fill her up even more. 

Sweet Pea's arousal was evident on his face and at the same time he looked quite proud of himself. "Lie down on the bed" she ordered him and he took her orders without a complaint. He watched her as she sat down on his lap.  
"Fuck" he breathed out when started teasingly rubbing herself against him. His hands grabbed her hips so hard that it hurt but Lauren enjoyed it.  
She leaned down and took time to kiss down his torso. "Hurry up" he growled at her. Lauren pressed a kiss on his belly button and then looked up: "Now who's a tease, huh?" Sweet Pea groaned and tugged at her, telling her to just get on with it. "So impatient" she muttered but did not tease him any longer, releasing him of his boxers. 

The sight of length made her mouth water and she decided to be brave and put her mouth around the tip of it. Sweet Pea's eyes widened at the sight and the feeling of the blonde girl having his length in her mouth. Lauren made up for her inexperience at this field by putting in a lot of enthusiasm and tried her best at making him feel good.  
"Fuck, you look so good like this, pretty girl" he groaned watching her and tugged at her hair. Lauren moaned at the term of endearment which send sparks throughout Sweet Pea's body. 

"Stop, stop" he groaned at her. Lauren took another swipe with her tongue but then followed his words. "What?" she muttered. He kissed her hard and then switched positions so he was on top of her again. Then he reached for the bottom drawer and retrieved a condom that he placed on his cock. 

"I want to feel your body around mine", he growled inside her ear and then pushed his cock into her body,´which made Lauren moan loudly. Sweet Pea took her leg onto his shoulder to get a better angle and then proceeded to viciously fuck her. Lauren was at the edge first and her clenching walls pushed him over the edge.

"Fuck, Lauren. You feel so good." Hearing him moan her name sealed the deal for Lauren and so she orgasmed for the second time tonight. Sweet Pea stayed inside of her for a while and when he glided outside of her, Lauren layed in the bed not daring to look him into the eye. 

She could not believe that she had really done this and that it had felt so good that she wanted very much to do it again. "Regret it?" Sweet Pea asked her and let his fingers wander over her still sensitive skin. Lauren swallowed, knowing she could not let him down, and turned over to look him into the eye. She gently put her hand on his cheek, which made him smile. He seemed so subdue now.Maybe he had let out all of his aggressions with her. 

 

"No, no I don't regret it" she told him and looked in his eyes to convey her seriousness, even if it made her feel slightly awkward. It was weird seeing him like this.  
"Good. 'Cause how can someone regret having sex with me?" he joked and Lauren chuckled and then coughed, her gag reflex finally happening.  
Sweet Pea watched her weirdly but then broke into laughter. "Good that that didn't happen when your lips where wrapped around my cock."  
That stopped her coughing but made her laugh perplexity. "Get me something to drink if you want that to ever happen again" she ordered and he stood up and walked into the kitchen completely naked and still laughing. Lauren could not stop herself from watching him and only whisked her eyes away when he returned with a glass of water that Lauren accepted greatly. She took a big sip from it before setting it down on the nightstand beside the bed, and made herself comfortable.  
She would just avoid asking Sweet Pea if she could stay the night by simply falling asleep before that. So she closed her eyes and yawned. "Exhausted?" Sweet Pea asked her and Lauren sighed as she felt his touch on her arm. "Yeah" she muttered. "Hm. Don't worry, you can sleep here. Won't let you walk around the street this late at night, looking like this." Lauren just grinned and opened her eyes to look at him again. "Thanks for the concern" she said, kissed him lightly and then fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that is the first time I ever wrote a sex scene in English. To be honest, it was easier to write than in my native tongue (German) but still felt weird somehow. So please don't hit me if you found it a bit cringy at times, I truly tried my best.  
> Anyways, I'm going to try to upload twice a week. I have chosen Wednesdays and Saturday as update days but that is subject to change due to my uni schedule.  
> Now I hope you like the read and leave me a comment so I can improve.
> 
> Have a nice day.  
> P.S.: Special thanks to the people on Tumblr who encouraged me by liking my posts.


	2. Calculation

Lauren did not sleep well. She kept waking up and dozing off a few seconds later. It seemed like her body might need the sleep but her brain would not let her forget what she had witnessed just a few hours prior. Just before 5 a.m. Lauren woke up and this time she could not just fall asleep afterwards. So she decided to just stand up. She picked up her clothing from yesterday and almost gagged because it reeked of sex. Well, better than it reeking like death, she thought and then went on to make coffee. The latter turned out to be much harder than she thought because the coffee machine was basically broken and Lauren had to hit it three times before it made any coffee.  
At least the coffee tasted somewhat decent and Lauren sat down on the floor to check her phone. That included being bombarded by messages from various friends who all asked her why she left yesterday's party early. 

Lauren discarded the messages and wrote a message to Peyton: _Sleep well?_  
An innocent message that didn't mean much without context. Ideal to ask what the current situation was without giving too much away. Lauren waited impatiently for an answer and spent the wait searching for her perfume so it wasn't so obvious what she had spent the night doing. Not that anyone would really care, Peyton was her only real friend, she only scarcely hung out with Betty or even Veronica, but since Veronica's shady dad had come back into town, Lauren did not go near her. She really didn't want anything to do with criminals. Oh the Irony! 

Lauren almost jumped and let her bag fall when her phone beeped, indicating an incoming call from Peyton. Lauren checked if Sweet Pea was still asleep and then picked up the call.  
"Morning" Lauren grumbled, suddenly reminded of how dire her situation really was.  
"Hey, Laur. So since you were quiet through the whole night, I reckon you went through with the plan?" she asked giggling and Lauren wanted to slap her.  
"How can you be so calm after what happened? And yes I did, what else was I supposed to do?" she half yelled and then yelped as she heard Sweet Pea getting up.  
"Oh shit. He just woke up" Lauren whispered into the phone.

"And what? You know that he doesn't need to know what we are talking about. You could, for example, just bitch about your brother."  
"What?" Lauren asked dumbly because she was occupied with panicking over Sweet Pea.  
"Just pretend, I'm your sister-in-law, you know that one that lives in New York and you can't stand. And that also talks to your brother on a daily basis."  
Lauren took a deep breath, cursed under her breath, and then started her rant: "No, I didn't expect for you to help, anyways." She gritted her teeth, and explored all of her anger that was stored deep inside. "I don't care that he works day and night. I know that you speak to him all the time, so you can just deliver the message" it felt good to let go of all of her emotions and Lauren lost herself in the imaginary conversation.  
"No, I can't just fucking talk to him because he doesn't pick up the phone and no, it is not my fault that he doesn't talk to me because at this moment I have tried everything."  
"You're really good at this" Peyton whispered on the other side which scared the shit out of Lauren and made her jump. "Now finish with a bomb and hang up" Peyton told her and Lauren decided to follow her advice.  
"Well, you know what? I'm done talking to all of you and don't you fucking dare call me when you fuck up again" she yelled into the phone, using all of the curse words she could think of and then hang up.

She imagined Peyton giggling at her antics and almost smiled but then remembered that Sweet Pea was still around, so she turned around to look at him. His hair was a mess and his questioning look with a raised eyebrow made Lauren want to kiss him again. Lauren only sighed and picked up her coffee from the floor and exed the now cold coffee.  
"So what was that?" he asked when Lauren had placed the cup back on the table.  
"Family drama, like always" she answered truthfully.  
"Your dad?" he asked, his voice turning to ice.  
"No, so you can relax."  
"It's my brother. My mom needs him to sign some stuff, and he is not picking up the phone" she sighed and passed him in order to retrieve her bag.

"Want a ride?" he asked and Lauren declined. She really didn't need everyone at Riverdale High to know about her involvement with a Serpent.  
"Worried about your reputation?" he asked with a surprisingly stern tone. The time of jokes was over, and it surprised Lauren more than it should. It had felt so weird to see him so vulnerable last night, but now she wished for that boy to return. But she couldn't lie and say that she did not still like his bad side.  
"Not really" she replied with a shrug. The truth was that she really did not have one because most people didn't pay enough attention to her, which was a good thing now that she was deep in trouble. And even if she didn't owe him an apology, she wanted to explain why. "Just not a good time to show up with a Serpent" she said lamely.  
To which he simply replied: "Is it ever?" Lauren had no answer to that, and awkwardly opened the door to escape the weird atmosphere. But before she could leave, Sweet Pea took two big strides and blocked her movement. He stood so close to her that Lauren didn't dare breathe. Her heart went crazy as her brain immediately started to play memories of last night in front of her eyes.

"You smell like me. That's good" he said with that low tone, and just enough anger that made Lauren knees tremble, and that was really not good. Lauren bit her lip and leaned her head against the wall to bring a bit of distance between them. She needed to keep a clear head.  
"Um, I really need to go school, so if you could let me out that would be great" she tried again. Sweet Pea grinned almost amused, took her face in his hands and kissed her abruptly. Even though Lauren really intended to keep a clear head, all of her intentions swept away and she lost herself in the kiss. Sweet Pea broke the kiss off to get some air, and Lauren took that pause to leave through the door.  
"See ya" she yelled grinning at a dissolved looking Sweet Pea. 

 

Lauren sorted herself out while walking and hoped that no one would notice how she smelt. Maybe Peyton could spray perfume over her body again.  
It was still so early that no one was wandering the streets, still Lauren made sure that she was out of South Side turf as fast as possible. Then she went to Peyton's house and knocked on the door.

"Hey, stranger to the North Side" Peyton greeted her with a grin. Lauren just rolled her eyes and stepped into the house. Peyton's family home was wide and the walls that were covered in white only amplified that impression. Lauren sat down on the couch and Peyton took that opportunity to hug her. "Eww. You really reek of sex."  
"Well he said that I smell like him" Lauren said shivering at the memory.  
Peyton chuckled: "He did, huh? Good work, sister. It's good for you to have a Serpent on your side" she said punching her play like.  
Lauren just shrugged. She really did not want to over think her involvement with Sweet Pea, it was still weird that she actually had slept with him, and had enjoyed it so much.

"So what is the status?" Lauren asked her friend. As much as she didn't want to ever think about what they had witnessed yesterday, she knew that in order to stay out of prison they had to take steps of action.  
"So, the good thing is that we both have an alibi now, which means that if they find the body and the autopsy shows a vague time of death, we are out of the clear. But if Mia and Ethan give the car to the Sheriff, which I think is not an option right now, we have a big problem because they would never believe me that my car was actually stolen."  
"So, bottom line is that we have to find the car" Lauren concluded her friend's speech. "Exactly."  
"How do we do that?"  
"First, we need to find out where Mia, Ethan and the car are. Everything else will be easier afterwards" Peyton sighed, and leaned down against the couch.  
"Do you have a way of tracking the car?"  
"Well, you know my dad works for the Sheriff, right? I know how we can track the car, but we need to get into the station unseen first."  
"Can't you pretend to visit your dad and then use his computer?" Lauren suggested.  
Peyton sighed heavily, and Lauren was tempted to do the same. Her friends reaction had already told her enough.  
"No, my dad is currently on vacation."  
"So we have to stage a break in, great."  
"Yeah. I'd like to stay home to draw up a plan but not going to school would reflect badly on us, so we'll go there, get through the day as best as possible, and then meet up afterwards."  
"OK."

Before they went to school, Lauren used the shower and Peyton lent her some clothes, so she would look perfectly normal and not like someone who was performing a Walk of Shame, even if she had already done that on the South Side but no one there had watched her. 

 

School was dreary. Lauren didn't pay attention to anything, and was always tapping her pencil against the desk which at one point led to Betty shushing her, which had never happened before.  
In the break Lauren sat alone so she could free her mind of all the horrible thoughts she had. Those thoughts were steadily replaced by thinking of Sweet Pea which would've made her uncomfortable just yesterday. But today she welcomed those thoughts as they were the only positive ones she had left. Peyton was at her music program as always, and Lauren wondered if her friend felt as terrible as she did.  
Apparently she looked pitiful enough that Betty, Archie, Veronica and Jughead all decided to sit down on her table.

Lauren wanted to greet them nicely but the only thing she could blurt out was: "Still not on the South Side, Jughead? “which made all of them look at her as if she had grown a second pair of hands.  
"No, my first day there will be today actually" Jughead answered. Lauren gave him a confused look: "Then why aren't you there already? "  
Jughead didn't give her an answer to her question. "Why are you wearing a snake ring?" he asked and pointed his head at her left hand. Lauren widened her eyes. Fuck, she had totally forgotten to take this thing off. Maybe that was the reason why people had looked funnily at her.  
"None of your business" she replied and Jughead smirked. He probably knew exactly what that ring meant.  
"What does this ring mean, Jug?" Betty asked and Lauren would've gladly pushed her off of her chair. Why did this girl always ask so many questions about everything? Lauren hoped that Jughead was ignorant enough to know the answer but his little smile told her enough.  
"Well, usually it means that a person is involved with a Serpent. They are given out as protection. And are mostly individual, so people know who the person belongs to" Jughead told his girlfriend while Lauren did her best to look unengaged.  
"You are involved with a Serpent? Lauren, you know how dangerous they are" Archie began to lecture her with a stern voice. Lauren fought the urge to laugh at him but decided against that. She really didn't need Archie to become interested in her with his stupid savior complex. That would make everything a whole lot harder.  
Lauren played with the ring and pressed her lips together to not burst, and let her pent up feelings out. The ring had always made her feel safe in some way, and now they had figure out what it was. Great.  
"As much as I see your concern, Archie, I am my own person, and can make my own decisions, even if you don't approve" she replied. Archie opened his mouth to say more but Veronica stopped him, and changed the topic. Lauren breathed out relieved and dodged Jughead's calculating look. 

 

When the bell eventually rang, and they all walked away, a thought crossed Lauren's mind. When Jughead walked into his new school, he would eventually meet Sweet Pea. And that would mean he'd see his rings. Jughead was smart enough and would put two-and-two together. Her relationship with Sweet Pea wouldn't be such a secret anymore. Another thing she had to deal with.


	3. Ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the new chapter. Hope you enjoy! :)

Sweet Pea woke up to the sound of Lauren talking to the phone with someone she didn't appear to like much. Sweet Pea stood up, threw on some clothes, and sat down on the couch, watching her scream into her phone.

He didn't pay much attention to what she was saying. She told him that it was family drama, and Sweet Pea didn't ask about it more. Most serpents had disfunctional families, which was something everyone knew but no one talked about. He also knew from past experience that Lauren didn't like talking about her family. Only once she had told him about her childhood, and it was so traumatic that they both didn't want a repeat performance.

He liked that she smelt like him, his protective side taking over, and kissed her aggressively to get her to understand who she belonged to.   
After she left, he showered, and then went to school.

„FP's kid is coming to school today" Fangs told him when he arrived. “You think he’s gonna join us?” Fangs asked him, and sat down to open his laptop which really didn't look better than Sweet Pea's but at least it still kind of worked.   
“He better” Sweet Pea answered, and sat down on his usual place. He recalled last night as Fangs told him something about the things he did yesterday which did not interest Sweet Pea the slightest.   
"What is that smirk?" Fangs asked, and looked at him way too close. "Dude, stop it" he said. "I know what that means."Sweet Pea just raised his eyebrows. "Congrats."

"What are we talking about?" Toni asked with a huge smile, and sat down opposite of him. Sweet Pea wanted to change the topic but Fangs didn't let him. "My boy Sweet Pea and his North Sider girl finally did it yesterday" Fangs proclaimed proudly and hit him on the shoulder. Sweet Pea just shrugged. Toni grinned at him:."Didn't think that that was ever gonna happen Thought she was to stuck-up." Sweet Pea didn't follow his instinct of defending Lauren, and just kept quiet and continued to smirk. He was not going to get bothered by the others shit-talking her. 

 

A little later FP's kid arrived, and Toni told them that he thought sitting alone was better than to sit with the Serpent. Seemed like that kid had even more of a death wish than Lauren. Sweet Pea didn't care too much anyways, if that kid wanted to get beat up it was his own damn fault. Sweet Pea was occupied with not trying to fall asleep in class. Honestly the only reason he actually went to school were the other Serpents.

He was sitting at the table at lunch when Toni sat down opposite of him a grin on her face. "So. Spill. I wanna know everything" she said grinning even more. Sweet Pea raised an eyebrow. "Suddenly interested?"  
"Dude. I know you're trying to be all like 'I really don't care' but you always that fucking weird glint in your eyes when she is mentioned so spill" she said grabbing her carrot and started eating it loudly. Sweet Pea looked at her grossed out. Toni gave him a death stare, and he figured that by talking about Lauren, she'd stop asking. Toni never gave up when she knew there was gossip she didn't know about.  
"So tell me how it happened."  
"She came to my trailer, looking unsure or something, and then she just fucking jumped me" he said, a smirk grazing his lips. Toni looked at him in disbelief: "What? She took initiative? I like that girl" Toni said grinning. Sweet Pea looked at her confused, that girl was hard to figure out sometimes. "I know, I know. You were gonna say, that you thought I didn't like her, and honestly I didn't do before but I like people who take initiative, and are not afraid of Serpents."  
"Oh, she definitely is afraid of Serpents but just not of me" Sweet Pea said grinning.   
"Oh my god. Your face lights up when you talk about her, aw. You're such a softie."  
"I am not!" Sweet Pea complained gritting his teeth. He was not going to let her mess around with his head. "Haha, yeah. Of course. You're tall and intimidating. And you're name also expresses maximum maleness."  
"Shut. Up. Topaz." he said, while Toni just laughed at him. He was seriously contemplating just to leave.

"What are we talking about?" a strange voice asked from behind him. He turned around and saw FP's kid who called himself Jughead look at them with interest in his eyes. Toni grinned at him. Sweet Pea wondered if she had already befriended the boy. Toni had a tendency to do that.   
"Sweet Pea's girlfriend" Toni told him, a suggestive tone in her voice. Sweet Pea just rolled his eyes. This girl was so dramatic for a Serpent.  
"Wait, you have a girlfriend?" Jughead asked bewildered, sounding like he didn't quite believe that, and anger made its way through Sweet Pea's veins. This kid was seriously to get punched. Toni chuckled: "Yes, he has. And here's the best part" Toni dropped her voice."She is a North Sider" she said dramatically with wide eyes. Sweet Pea only sighed.  
"What" Jughead's voice jumped an octave higher. He looked confused until he looked at Sweet Pea's hand, searching for something. Sweet Pea saw the realization in his eyes, and glared at him, daring him to say something.   
"Lauren's your girlfriend?" he asked loudly, his voice booming through the room. Everyone stopped to look at them, and Sweet Pea really didn't like that. "What are you all looking at?" Sweet Pea spit out, and everyone turned back around to pick up their conversations again.  
"I can't believe that. Innocent, perfect Lauren with someone like you?" he asked, and Sweet Pea definitely knew that he had a death wish. Insulting Lauren in front of him was really something he shouldn't have done.  
"Seems like you don't know her" Sweet Pea said, indicating that the conversation was over for him.  
"I can't believe this. You do know that she is walking around Riverdale High wearing that ring, right? She is gonna get attacked sooner or later" Jughead said, his voice sounding more frustrated with every word he said.   
"She can take care of herself." Sweet Pea didn't mention that the only reason why she was wearing that ring was to not get attacked. He was surprised that she had started wearing it around town. As far as he knew she had only worn it on South Side turf. It made his chest swell proudly that she had started wearing it on the North Side too. Other guys should definitely stay away from her now. 

 

The rest of day dragged on, and Lauren was ready to just fuck it all, and leave. But the rational part of her brain made her stay, and so she met Peyton outside the school at the end of the day and together they walked back to Peyton's house because no one there was home. Lauren's mother did not care where she went because she usually was either drunk out of her mind or high, and couldn't think clear.

 

"So did you have a sudden revelation on how to stage a break in?" Peyton asked her when they had sat down on the couch, both with a coffee in their hand.  
"No, and to top it all of I forgot to take off my ring, and Jughead recognized it for what it was" Lauren told her friend with a sigh. Despite her incident with Jughead, Lauren had not taken off the ring. She might as well wear it proudly now.   
"Well, that doesn't really matter in the greater scheme of things" Peyton said and Lauren agreed with her.  
"So I wondered if you could eavesdrop on the Serpent if they might be interested in a break in" Peyton told her while looking at her foot. Lauren almost chocked on her coffee but thankfully didn't die.  
"Do you want me to die?" Lauren spat out.   
"Well you're on first name basis with one Serpent, that's already more than I know."  
"Great? So now you want me to get even more problems" Lauren argued. She already had used Sweet Pea for her own gain, and was not about to do it again  
"Well I think not going to jail is more important than hurting your sweet little relationship" Peyton argued right back, and Lauren sadly had to agree.  
"You have to give me time though, that's not something that can be done over night."  
"OK. One week, tops. If we can't find the car by then, we have to violently break in without a plan."

They used the rest of the day to sleep. Watching a murder happen right in front of your eyes and being forced to cover it up did damage to your brain, and was probably the reason why they were now tired all the time. The next day went on without much happening, and Lauren found herself being bored throughout the school day. All of the adrenaline was gone, and Lauren's bones ached.   
As she sat down outside the school to wait for the bus, her phone beeped indicating a new message.

 _Up for another round?_ Sweet Pea had written just a minute ago. Lauren was unsure. She was still shaken, and she really didn't want to make herself vulnerable again. On the other hand she had nothing better than do, and maybe being around Sweet Pea would make her brain shut up for a little why. At the same time she could start to question him about the technicalities of breaking in.   
_Sure, why not. When can I come around?_

_In 2 hours. Have something to care of first._

OK, see ya then. Lauren wrote and then shut off her phone. She was just going to take the bus home, shower, put on some nicer clothes and then make her way to the South Side. Time went by way too fast, and soon enough she found herself in Sweet Pea's trailer again. 

"So what did you have to do?" Lauren asked him as she sat down on the couch, and scrolled down her Instagram feed because she felt too uncomfortable to really look at him. Peyton's words still clouded her head, and she just couldn't relax. 

"Just some stuff because of Jones."  
"Oh, what happened to Jughead?" Lauren asked, suddenly interested. She didn't hate Jughead after all. The thing yesterday had just annoyed her, even if it ultimately had been her own fault. She should've just taken the damn ring off, and everything would've been fine. Well, except that she had to break in into the Sheriff's station, and still had no idea how to do that.  
"Why? You like him or something?" he asked anger apparent.  
Lauren grinned, amused that she could aggravate him so easily:"Jealous, or what?"  
Sweet Pea laughed derisively. "No need for that." He looked at her cold and derogatory. Lauren chuckled under her breath. It was sort of funny to watch him trying to be so cold when she knew how soft he was under that tough exterior. She still understood that, surely being a member of a gang didn't perpetuate softness. She herself was someone that didn't like opening up to people.  
"I know Jughead from school. I like his writing" she explained.   
"Why do you not like him?" Lauren asked, genuinely interested.   
"He accepts the Serpents' help when he needs it but won't join us in return" Sweet Pea said aggravated. 

"Maybe he doesn't want to hurt Betty. She doesn't want him to join. " Lauren offered, crunching her nose while mentioning Betty's name.  
"So you don't like her?"  
"No, I mean, I don' t know. She is sweet and all that but she is so annoying sometimes" Lauren explained. She didn't hate Betty but she didn't spend enough time with her to really know her. Sweet Pea only raised his eyebrows. 

The evening went by quick, and they didn't do much. Lauren actually went as far as getting her school stuff out so she wouldn't fall asleep. Sweet Pea had looked at her like she had gone insane but Lauren just had continued with her work. The minutes went by quick and Lauren knew that she eventually had to ask if he knew how to break in somewhere. The problem was that she was a really bad liar, and Sweet Pea would definitely know right away that something was up. So she put it off until it was dark outside. Lauren knew she had to leave soon, and so she decided to just try her best.  
"Have you ever broken in somewhere?" she asked from her spot on the floor, not looking up from the papers she had spread out in front of her, trying to appear nonchalant even if her heart was beating fast.  
"No. I let others do the work" Sweet Pea answered after a short pause. Lauren felt disappointed. Sure, she didn't want Sweet Pea to incriminate himself but at the same time she had asked for nothing. And now he surely wanted to know why she wanted to know.   
"Why are you asking?" Sweet Pea asked, and sat down on the couch. Lauren stood up from her spot, and put the papers back together to put them into her bag. "Don't know. Just curious" she talked her way out of it, and stood right next to the door so she could flee fast. He really didn't need to know that Peyton and her were planning to overrun the Sheriff's station so they could find the stolen car. 

"Really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, and Lauren knew that he didn't believe a word of what she had said.   
"Hmm." Lauren said looking at her feet. Her mind was racing. What could she do to stop him from asking?  
Sweet Pea walked towards her, stopped in front of her, took a streak of her hair and twirled it around. "You can tell me. There's not so many things I haven't heard before" he said, and Lauren was almost tempted to tell him but decided against it. Instead, she kissed him to shut him up. But Sweet Pea didn't accept that, and broke the kiss after just a few seconds.

"I know what you're doing, and it's not working" he told her. Lauren huffed disappointed. This had always worked so why did he not accept that the one time she needed him to.  
"Come on. Just tell me" he whispered. Lauren opened her mouth to reply something but the ringtone of her phone saved her. She let out a sigh, looked at the message she had received from Peyton, and then looked at Sweet Pea. "I really need to go. Bye" she said, and then bolted out of the trailer.


	4. Break In

"Sorry, Peyton. I couldn't find out anything" Lauren apologized to her friend as they sat in the lounge at Riverdale High. Peyton sighed, making Lauren feel bad for her failure.   
"Well, I guess we have to come up with our own plan then" Peyton said, and leaned against the couch, closing her eyes.  
"So we do it at night, right?" Lauren asked dropping her voice, no one here needed to know what they were talking about. Not that anyone was particularly interested in their life.   
"Yeah. Meet me at the station at 6. I'm gonna come up with a plan til then" Peyton said, standing up and going to class, leaving Lauren on her own to think about what they were going to do tonight.   
She never imagined herself in a situation like this. Arguably, breaking in somewhere was less gruesome than covering up a murder but Lauren still felt uncomfortable about being forced into being a criminal so she wouldn't end up in prison.   
With a deep sigh Lauren downed the rest of her coffee, and then went to class. When she walked out of the classroom sixty minutes later, she stopped in her tracks as she Sheriff Keller in the hallway. Her heartbeat fastened, and her palms became sweaty. What if he was here for her? Maybe they found the car, and were now closing in on Peyton and her. This town was too small to hide secrets, and they definitely would know that whatever Peyton did, Lauren was probably involved in it too. She decided to flee in the other direction towards the bathroom. She walked in a steady pace, not wanting people to see that something was wrong with her. She locked herself in a stall, and leaned against the wall, trying to calm her breathing. Tears started to form in her eyes, and she had to hold her hand against her mouth so her sobs wouldn't be heard.

"Lauren, are you in there?" Betty asked concerned, and knocked on the door. Lauren swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah" she answered, her voice shaking. "Is everything OK?" the girl asked, not letting it go. "Yeah. Yeah, I will be" Lauren answered, tears falling down her eyes. "Is it because of your boyfriend? Because he is a Serpent?" Betty asked. "It's really complicated" Lauren said avoiding a straight answer. Letting Betty think that she was upset about Sweet Pea was better than having her find out about the real reason of her tears. "If you can come out, we can talk about it. If you want to" Betty offered. Lauren had to smile despite her pain. She had never treated Betty nicely but the girl was still offering Lauren comfort because she was upset. Lauren wiped away her tears, and opened the door. "I'd like that" she said with a smile. Betty smiled back at her, linking their arms together. "Come on, let's go. We both have a free period now, so we can talk" Betty said, leading her through the hallways. Lauren breathed out relieved when they walked by the Sheriff who was talking about the formation of the Red Circle. He was not here for her. She was safe at least until the evening.   
Betty led her outside, and they sat down on one of the many banks.   
"You and your... Serpent? It's really serious, isn't it?" Betty asked her hesitantly, looking everywhere but Lauren's face. Lauren played with the ring of her finger, and thought about Sweet Pea. "I don't know, he's definitely more than just an acquaintance, you know" Lauren explained, staring at the tree just a few yards away from her view. "It must be hard. You being here, and he being part of a gang." Lauren smiled. "Of course it's not easy but at least we try" she explained, and paused for a moment. "Is this about you and Jughead? Are you worried that you guys won't make it?" Lauren asked Betty, so she could shift the attention away from her and her relationship with Sweet Pea.  
"I don't know. Right now, he is only at Southside High but what if he joins the Serpents?" Betty voiced her concerns. "From what I understand, you don't have to be worried. My... boyfriend, or whatever he is, told me that Jughead doesn't even want to sit with the Serpents" Lauren reassured Betty. "I just hope that he doesn't get stuck between sides." "Yeah. I know what you mean" Lauren sighed, looking at the ring on her finger. Betty laid her hand on her arm: "For what it's worth. I think your Serpent guy is serious about you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be wearing that ring." Betty said, pointing at her hand, trying to lift her spirits. "Maybe Jughead will get you one" Lauren commented trying to break the heavy tone of their conversation. Betty put on a smile that was obviously fake, and so Lauren opted to just reply to Betty's first statement.   
"I know. It's just... complicated. Like you said: We are on complete different sides, leading different lives" Lauren said. "Anyways, I'll have to go back in. Got a lot to take care of" Lauren excused herself, and jumped up from the bank. She really didn't want to reveal more about herself. She knew that if she kept talking, she would eventually spill her secret to feel better about herself. But that would only land her in jail, and that certainly was not part of her life plan.   
"You can talk to me anytime, Lauren. I will listen" Betty stated firmly, her signature smile on her face. Lauren nodded. "Thank you, Betty" she said, and then went inside, feeling a bit better. 

 

The day went by without any more interruptions but with every hour that passed Lauren grew more nervous. If there was an alternative to what she had to, she would take in an instant.

But there was no alternative which was why she found herself hiding behind the Sheriff's station, waiting for Peyton to arrive. Her hands were numb from the cold, and her throat hurt. Lauren was never good at bearing cold weather, and with the amount of stress she had to endure recently it wouldn't be surprising if she caught a cold. Peyton arrived at exactly 6 p.m., and held black leather gloves in front of Lauren's face. "What the hell?" Lauren asked bewildered but accepted the gloves, and put them on. 

Peyton just smiled. "It' gets better" her friend said, and then pulled out a gun. All the color drained from her face, and her breath hitched. "Are you out of your mind?" Lauren asked her friend. Peyton shushed her. "We need to get the information or we're definitely landing in jail so I will use whatever I can to get to it" Peyton looked at her a dark expression on her face. Lauren sighed. "Well, if you think we need it" she said, turning around to look at their target, the Sheriff's station.  
"OK. So I checked out their patrol schedule. When they change patrols there is usually a five minute break. We have to use that. So we will go in from the side, you will make sure no one get in while I drag the information on my USB stick" Peyton explain, putting the gun in Lauren's hand. "No way" Lauren complained, and gave the gun back to her friend. 

"I'm not holding a gun." Peyton sighed: "Don't be a coward, Lauren. If we can't manage to do this we are both going to jail." "But if they find us, and they find the gun, they can charge us with armed robbery. That is way worse than a normal break in" Lauren explained, trying to set her friend on the right path. She understood that Peyton was scared but that did not allow her to be so reckless. "You're right but the gun gives us a chance to escape if someone catches us." 

"And then what, Peyton? You're just gonna let me stick a gun in someone's face?" Lauren argued, her voice growing louder. Peyton shushed her by holding a finger to her lips. Lauren sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest.   
"I am not holding the gun. End of discussion" Lauren said, emphasizing each word to get her point across. "Look we don't have time to discuss this, so either you take the gun or I go in there alone" Peyton said with finality in her voice.

"OK. I'll do it. But know that I really don't want to do this" Lauren answered, taking the gun and placing it underneath her jacket so it was invisible for everyone else. They waited five more minutes until the deputies came back from their patrol, and went into the station to alert the their colleagues. Lauren and Peyton used that time to walk up to the emergency door on the left side on the building. 

They waited another minute before they entered the building. Lauren held her breath when Peyton stopped at a corner to make sure no one was watching. She waited for Peyton to raise her hand as a sign, and when she finally did it Lauren carefully stepped around the corner, walking towards the office that belonged to Peyton's dad. Peyton slipped into the office, turning on the computer while Lauren looked twice in both directions before closing the door. Lauren took the two wooden chairs leaned against the wall on her right side, and placed them under the lock so the door wouldn't open as easily which could give them valuable time in case they had to escape abruptly. Lauren twitched with her legs, watching nervously as Peyton logged into the system so she could search for information on her car's position. It took Peyton several seconds to find what she was looking for, and when she had finally done so and stuck the USB stick in, Lauren heard voices from the other side of the hall. "Hurry" she whispered, grabbed the gun underneath her jacket, and held it in front of her body to potentially scare the deputies away. "Almost done" Peyton reassured her, typing in a speed that Lauren had never seen before. Lauren held the gun tightly in her hands, staring out of the milky door out of which you could only see the silhouettes of people. 

Thankfully, the voices grew more distant, and there was no one walking towards them. Maybe it was because of the fact that Peyton's dad's office was currently unoccupied, and so no one saw the need to walk towards it. "Done" Peyton said, sounding relieved, retrieved the USB stick and walked up to the door next to Lauren. 

"Everything clear?"  
"Clear" Lauren answered, and together they opened the door, slipping outside. They walked with normal speed over the hallway, before disappearing through the same door they had entered the building with. While Lauren breathed out relieved, and smiled at her friend, Peyton stored the USB stick in her jacket, and walked away.  
"Wait. Peyton! What are you doing?" Lauren yelled after her running. What was going on with her friend? Had Peyton suddenly freaked out after what they had done? Had she realized how dangerous it had been to carry a gun with them? If that was the case, Lauren would reassure her friend that everything was fine now that they had info. And that Lauren understood that she would've gone to extreme measure to assure their safety and their freedom. 

"What are you doing?" Lauren asked panicked once she had caught up with Peyton.   
All of Lauren's previous thoughts faded as she saw the dark look in Peyton's eyes. Lauren made fists, the adrenaline still running through her veins, making her feel overwhelmed with the whole situation.   
Peyton swallowed, and looked at her with a regretful look in her eyes: "I'm sorry, Lauren. But I need to put myself first in this. You'll be OK" Peyton explained in one breath, and then ran away without saying anything, leaving Lauren with a bewildered expression on her face, and a gun in her hand, behind. She couldn't believe what Peyton had done. Her friend had ultimately betrayed her, and now there was nothing Lauren could do. She couldn't even be sure anymore that she was safe. If Peyton was willing to leave her alone, what stopped her from putting the blame on Lauren alone so she would be in the clear? Lauren's breath quickened, and she had to lean against the tree so she wouldn't faint. This was it. She was going to go to prison at only 17, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it. She held a hand over her mouth so no one could hear her hysterically crying. She sank to the ground, and cried her heart out. 

Thirty minutes later she was walking towards her house. There she put the gun down, where her mother couldn't find it, and then walked downstairs to the cellar where several alcoholic beverages that her mother liked to drink were hidden. Lauren lay down on the floor with a vodka bottle in her hand, and started drinking while staring up the ceiling. Half a bottle later she stood up swaying and walked upstairs to get her jacket and shoes. 

The alcohol made her feel way to hot, and she was going to go for a quick stroll through the neighborhood. Her neighbors wouldn't be too surprise as they dealt with Lauren's drunk mother everyday. And besides, Lauren didn't feel drunk. She was still way too jacked up which made her thoughts race, and not slow down which usually happened under the influence. 

But she didn't want to feel this way, she wanted her thoughts to stop, didn't want to think about going to prison, which meant that she wasn't going to see her friends for a while. _If you'll still have friends when they find out what you did_ , she mumbled to herself, and started to laugh. Lauren walked toward the nearest bank, where she sat down on took another gulp of the vodka.   
Then she took her phone, and tried to unlock it. It took her three times to get the code right. She only wanted to delete Peyton's contact so she would never have to see her former friend's name again but got stuck at a number of one of her mother's drug dealers. A year ago Lauren had saved it because she had wanted to tell him off so he wouldn't supply her mother with drugs again, but she had backed out last minute. Attacking a drug dealer was never a good idea. 

Lauren had never taken drugs because she despised what they did to her mother. Her mother was terrible enough when she was drunk but the drugs had always turned her into a complete different person.   
When she got drunk she usually came back after a few hours but when she did drugs she sometimes only returned after several days. 

On every other day Lauren would've never considered contacting a drug dealer but today stood under complete different circumstances.   
Maybe the drugs would do the job the alcohol hadn't done. Lauren only wanted her thoughts to stop, and if there was a chance that the drugs would do that for her, she was going to take it. So Lauren decided to just do it, and texted the drug dealer, saying that she was Mary's daughter and wanted to meet up to get some drugs. Lauren only had to wait a few minutes for an answer. The dealer had given her a description of the street where they would meet in about thirty minutes. It was located on the Southside but Lauren didn't find it in her to care.

She took two more sips of the vodka, and then made her way through the streets. It took her longer than usual to navigate but fortunately no one made their way up to her. If she had been attacked, she would have been unable to defend herself. Even if they saw the ring on her finger which would make Serpents back off, the Ghoulies would've still seen her as an easy target. Especially because she was already struggling to keep her balance, and held a Vodka bottle in her hand. And from the stories she had heard it was highly unlikely that they cared about potential consequences. 

She made it on the time to their meeting spot. The dealer was a tall man with tanned skin, dark eyes and hair with a dangerous glint in his eyes. He raised his eyebrow at her vodka bottle but didn't comment on it.  
"So what do you have for me?" Lauren asked, trying hard not to slur so she would appear though. "I have Jingle Jangle for you. It's the hot new thing" he explained, holding out two sticks in front of her. Lauren didn't ask what effects it had, or how you had to consume it, she just grabbed the drugs, gave the dealer his money, and then disappeared somewhere where she could consume them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know yet if I'll be able to post the next chapter on Wednesday, as I unfortunately have a cold. But it will be posted next Friday at the latest.


	5. Visions

Lauren walked down to an abandoned street, where she hid behind a dumpster. She made sure that no one saw her before proceeding to pull the drugs out of her pocket. She carefully examined the straw she had received from the drug dealer and sighed. She looked around, one last time, and opened the Jingle Jangle to pour it down her throat. Lauren took one large gulp from the vodka bottle, and waited for the drugs to kick in. It didn’t take long for the drugs to unfold their effect, and Lauren felt a slight rush of euphoria.

Ten minutes later the drugs had fully done what Lauren wanted them to do and so she was walking down the streets of the Southside feeling like she was on Cloud Nine. There were no negative thoughts left on her brain, and she kept giggling because the world in front of her was spinning. She had to stop walking several times because she had lost her balance. That didn't stop her though, and so she continued her walk without a goal in her mind. Her steps slowly became clumsier as time went on, and her vision became fuzzy. Every step dragged on, and in thirty minutes she only had made it through two streets.

When she walked around a corner, she lost her balance for a moment and stumbled straight into someone. "Sorry" Lauren slurred as she tried to stand straight so she wouldn't fall onto the street. It took her a moment before she was stable enough to look up to the person she had bumped into. In front of her stood a tanned girl who had brown hair with pink streaks in it. Lauren was confused at first but then saw her Serpent jacket.

 

"Who are you? And what are you doing here at night?" the girl asked, an edge to her voice that Lauren couldn't figure out. Her vision was still blurry and she found it difficult not to twitch her legs. Lauren didn't say anything, her fingers tightening around the Vodka bottle. The girl looked at Lauren's hand, and her eyes widened. "Oh shit" she muttered under her breath. Lauren, not being in her right mind, took that as a threat and took a step back.

"No, wait" the girl said warily. Lauren stopped and looked at her confused. "Are you Lauren?"

Lauren's eyes widened. How did this girl know her name? Had Lauren met her before but didn't remember? "Why?" she asked frowning, trying to think of reasons why this girl knew her name. To anyone that had encountered drugs before, it was obvious that Lauren was on something. Her pupils were twice the regular size and she was constantly grinding her teeth or clenching her jaw. 

"Shit. You're high." the girl said, sounding somewhat concerned as far as Lauren could tell. "I'm Toni, by the way" the girl said with a warm smile, introducing herself. Lauren nodded, and watched as Toni got out her phone and started typing. Lauren twitched her legs, and took another gulp from the bottle, debating whether she should trust this person or make a run for it.Toni took her eyes off her phone, and stretched out her hand to take the bottle out of Lauren's hands. 

"Hey. That's mine" Lauren protested, pouting as Toni took the bottle and sat it down on the street. 

"Don't get me wrong, sweetie, but you definitely don't need any more of this." Toni let out a small laugh. Lauren gaped at her but didn't say anything. Her brain didn't let her think as it was too cloudy. It was exactly what she had wanted when she had made the decision to consume the drugs. Toni stayed with her for a while, and a few minutes later Lauren started shivering. "You OK?" Toni asked her. 

"I’m just cold" Lauren slurred, her teeth shattering against each other. Lauren crossed her arms over her chest, in order to keep some of the warmth in. Toni looked at her concerningly but rolled her eyes nonetheless. 

“It’s probably because you’re high” Toni commented. “What did you take anyway?” she added. Lauren closed her eyes so she could think better but no matter how much she tried she couldn’t remember what she had taken. The alcohol mixed with the drugs had made her brain feel like it was wrapped in cotton. 

“Don’t know.” Lauren mumbled, her teeth still clinking together. 

“Mhm. Hopefully it won’t last that long.” Toni muttered, looking back at her phone. She didn’t say anything after that, and together they stood there awkwardly. Lauren was occupied with trying not to freeze to death, while Toni kept texting someone. Lauren was still tempted to steal the bottle away from her and run, but she was somewhat aware of the fact that she was too slow to even try to make an attempt at that. Lauren was not sure what the girl was still doing here but she didn’t ask, as her mouth was dry and thus it was difficult to form words.

 

Ten minutes later Lauren heard someone’s footsteps headed towards them behind her. Surprised, Lauren yelped, and ducked. Even while being drunk and high, her learned instinct of making herself small still worked. It seemed like she would never get rid of it, no matter what she did. Lauren jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder, slowly turning her around. Before she could register what was happening, she found herself staring at a tall, dark figure, towering over her. Sweet Pea narrowed his eyes and looked at her, clearly upset. 

“Her pupils are wide and she is constantly shivering. She’s a total goner” Toni explained to him and he let out a sigh. The only thing Lauren could do was to stare sheepishly at the ground while she desperately tried to keep some warmth in her body. Her hands started to tingle, so she made them into fists, trying to stop the uncomfortable numbness that spread through them. She didn’t pay much attention to the exchange of words between Toni and Sweet Pea, too distracted with what was going on inside of her.

“Thanks, Toni” Sweet Pea muttered.

“No problem. Take care of her, Pea” Toni said, squeezing his arm for a moment before turning around. She smiled one more time at Lauren, and then walked away with the vodka bottle in her hand. Lauren wanted to protest and say that the bottle had been very expensive and that her mother would not appreciate that the bottle had been taken by someone else but her teeth were still shattering she didn’t even try to form the words.

“Come on. Let’s go” Sweet Pea mumbled as he took her arm and walked away with her. Lauren could barely keep up with him as they strolled down the street. Her vision became fuzzier with each step they took, causing her to hold onto Sweet Pea’s arm to prevent stumbling and falling. Sweet Pea didn’t say anything the whole way and Lauren reckoned that he was mad at her. She tried to figure out why, but failed to come up with a reason.

 

Lauren sighed when she stepped into his trailer and felt the warmth make its way back to her limbs. Her hands still trembled and her nails had turned blue but she at least felt a bit better now that she was inside. Sweet Pea brought over a glass of water and made her drink it. Even if she wasn’t in her right mind, Lauren willingly complied as she didn’t want to upset him further.She sat down on the couch, playing with her hands and twitching with her legs nervously. Her mind was on overdrive, and she couldn’t keep up with her thoughts. 

“Why the hell did you take the drugs?” Sweet Pea asked her angrily and sat down beside her. Lauren’s breathing became faster as tears began to swim in her eyes and she desperately tried to remember what had caused this episode. She dug her nails into her skin to concentrate better but she just couldn’t remember. 

“Don’t know” she said slurring, her speech still affected by the alcohol and drugs. Her short breaths quickly turned into sobs as she became overwhelmed with what was happening. She hated the lack of control she had over her emotions and movements and she was mad at herself for not remembering properly what had happened earlier that evening. She jumped up from the couch in panic and started pacing around the trailer. Sweet Pea watched her for a moment, trying to make sense of what was going on in her head before standing up and walking up to her. 

“Hey. It’s okay. It’s just the drugs. Not you.” he tried to comfort her, trying to drag her into his arms so she would calm down. 

“Don’t touch me!” Lauren yelled, pushing him away with as tears were flowing down her cheeks. Sweet Pea took a step back and held up his hands defensively, as if to indicate that he wouldn’t hurt her. Lauren couldn’t comprehend that and panicked. “Don’t come near me!” she repeated, walking backwards slowly. 

“Hey, calm down. I would never hurt you, you know that.” he said quietly, and started walking towards her. 

“Please don’t” she begged him, sobbing as she leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes. At this point she would do anything for this feeling to stop. She hadn’t expected getting a panic attack from the drugs. They were supposed to help her but they had failed their job. She stood there, burying her face in her palms as she kept crying. She flinched when she felt Sweet Pea’s hand gently touching her shoulder. “Stop it. Don’t touch me” she cried, her voice cracking. 

“Shh. It’s just me, you’re gonna be okay.” Sweet Pea whispered, pulling her in close.She tried to wriggle her way out of his grasp but he held her so tightly that she couldn’t escape. “I’m here, it’s going to be okay.” he mumbled against her hair, stroking her back. He continued to repeat his words until he felt Lauren’s arms reluctantly wrap around his torso, holding onto him tightly. They stood there until she finally felt calmer and her tears stopped flowing.

When Sweet Pea let go of her, Lauren wiped away the tear stains on her face, and asked for another glass of water. Sweet Pea nodded and left instantly to fill up the glass. Her hands were still trembling a bit but at least the panic had stopped and she could breathe normally. When he came back she took the glass from his hands and took large gulps until it was finished. She handed the glass to him and sat down on the couch once again not daring to look him in the eyes. Sweet Pea stood against the kitchen counter with crossed arms and looked at her like he was contemplating something. Lauren didn’t say anything, too afraid of making him mad. 

“Do you remember anything from today?” Sweet Pea finally asked her after a while of dead silence. Lauren shook her head instinctively. 

“My head is so cloudy, I can’t think clearly.” Lauren explained, taking time to speak so she wouldn’t slur the words too much. 

“That’s what happens when you take drugs.” Sweet Pea sighed, shifting his weight uncomfortably. Lauren looked away. So he was mad at her. She should’ve expected that. Everyone was always mad at her for something. She always felt safe with him but now she didn’t know what to think or what to do. She was frustrated. Desperately wanting to give Sweet Pea a reason for her behavior, she closed her eyes and placed her hand on her forehead so she could think.

 

“Wait” she called out, slowly remembering snippets from her day. “I was at school. I talked to…” Lauren paused. “Betty. I talked to Betty. I think she was concerned about me” Lauren said, finding it extremely difficult to pull this memory from the back of her brain upfront so she would know what happened. Lauren opened her eyes, her gaze falling on her ring. It was like a light bulb had suddenly switched on in her brain. “She asked if I was concerned about you. I didn’t tell her much, I think. She was concerned about Jughead. I told her that you told me that he hasn’t got anything to do with the Serpents.”

“Something else?” Sweet Pea asked, uncrossing his arms, walking towards her and sitting down beside her. He suddenly seemed interested in what she had to say. Lauren searched her brain for more memories but she didn’t find any. 

“No” she admitted defeated. She thought that since she had figured out one event the others would come back too. Sweet Pea laid his hand on her knee, and squeezed it gently. 

“That’s okay. I’ve got time. The memories will come when the drugs wear out” he reassured her. Lauren nodded, and laid her head down on his shoulder, tucking her knees in. 

 

An hour later Lauren still sat there, trying to remember something else. She was staring out of the window watching the rain as it fell down. Suddenly something flickered in her vision, she closed her eyes and saw herself holding a gun. Horrified she yelped and opened her eyes. But the vision didn’t stop. Lauren saw herself talking to Peyton, putting on black leather gloves, Peyton pushing a gun in her hands while she complained. Lauren didn’t register Sweet Pea walking towards her, asking her what was wrong, touching her shoulder gently; she was too caught up in the images that flashed before her eyes. 

Peyton and her were walking down a dark corridor, it looked like the Sheriff’s station; Peyton was typing and a USB-stick was plugged into a computer. Lauren saw herself standing at the door of an office, presumably standing guard in the case that someone came. She saw herself aiming the gun at the door with trembling hands. Just as she saw someone move, the vision ended, leaving Lauren paralysed, staring at the window with disbelieving eyes. She started shaking, and held a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t hyperventilate for the second time today. 

“What’s wrong? What did you remember?” Sweet Pea asked, touching her shoulder gently. Lauren swallowed, closed her eyes and softly shook her head. 

“I can’t tell you… you’ll hate me” she said, trying to make him see that she couldn’t answer his question. This was her problem to deal with, she couldn’t involve Sweet Pea in her mess. It was not fair. 

“I’ve seen a lot of things, Lauren. You can tell me… whatever it is” Sweet Pea reassured her, his hand still touching her shoulder. 

Lauren took a deep breath. “Peyton and I… we broke in somewhere. I think it was the Sheriff’s station. Peyton was getting some information from her father’s computer. I was standing guard, and... and I held a gun in my hands, aiming it at the door... “ she recalled and made a pause to compose herself. She looked at the floor, not wanting to see Sweet Pea’s reaction. She could tell that he hadn’t moved, his hand was still placed on her shoulder. 

“I was willing to pull the trigger” she whispered, disgusted with herself. She would’ve risked a man’s life for whatever information they had needed. She heard Sweet Pea’s breath hitch, and looked up to him, expecting him to look mad but instead he was frowning, looking concerned. 

“Why did you have to do that? Holding the gun, breaking in. What information did you need and why?” he asked firmly. She saw his hand grabbing the backrest of the couch. He was trying not to flip, she realised and so she closed her eyes, hoping for more memories to come back to her. 

There. Something flickered. She saw trees, a forest. Peyton and her standing there, breathing fast, dirt on their faces. A shovel lying on the ground next to them. Lauren tried to make sense of what she was seeing but the separate images wouldn’t come together to form a coherent one. She opened her eyes, blinking, and there it was: A dead body, covered in blood and dirt, right in front of her. She was holding the shovel, digging into the ground while Peyton grabbed the body, throwing it into the hole Lauren had dug. Terrified, Lauren widened her eyes. Her body suddenly stilled, she didn’t dare to breathe. 

Oh God. What had she done? What kind of monster had she become?

“Lauren, what’s wrong? What did you see?” Sweet Pea asked hesitantly. Trying to hold back the tears that formed in her eyes she slowly she turned to him.   
Instead of seeing the boy sitting next to her, she only saw the horrifying image of a dead body.

 

“I think-” she breathed, “I think I killed someone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank my friend Olive who was my livesaver this week since my brain isn't working properly right now. You're the best!


	6. Ashes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally back with the next chapter! Please excuse the long wait, I seriously struggled with this chapter and just finished it last night.

Lauren fell asleep quickly, exhausted from concentrating so hard. After he had carried her to his bed, making sure that she was comfortable, Sweet Pea was left alone with his thoughts. He sat down on the couch and sighed, burying his face in his hands. He’d never thought that he would ever have to think about something like this. Especially not when it regarded Lauren. When he had met her, he certainly never expected that she had a dark side. But that illusion had slowly began to crack. 

It had began with her telling him about the hell of her childhood, about the abuse she had to endure. But this was something different, something darker, almost sinister. If what she had said was true it’d be difficult to drag her out of it. Sweet Pea knew her well enough to know that she was never going to forgive herself, that she would lose herself in the dark parts of her brain, and never come out of it.Sweet Pea couldn’t comprehend the fact that she had supposedly killed someone. Despite her hardships, she was not the kind of person to do something so gruesome. But then again people were capable of pretty much anything when they were desperate. Maybe it was just the drugs talking, he hoped. 

There was one thing he was sure of. If she had actually done what she had said, he’d do everything in his power to get her out of the mess she was drowning in. Surely, there was a Serpent he could coerce into cleaning this mess up. He wouldn’t even have to reveal that it was Lauren’s mess they had to clean up. 

He contemplated the whole night, and only fell asleep around 5. 

 

Lauren woke up feeling dizzy. Her head was pounding painfully and her limbs felt heavy. She sat up slowly, trying to make sense of what had happened. She didn’t remember much from last night, only that Sweet Pea had brought her to his place since she was drunk and high.

She stretched out her arms, and yawned. Sighing, she turned her head slowly to look at Sweet Pea. He looked so much more peaceful when he slept. The usual scowl on his face was replaced with a relaxed expression, his hair - messy from sleeping - framing his face. Despite feeling like crap, a smile broke out on her face and she reached her hand out to stroke his hair. She was glad that at least she had him on her side. 

She spotted her phone laying on the nightstand on his side of the bed and tried to reach it. It took her quite a long time, as she made sure to move as quietly as possible to not wake him up. It couldn’t be that early, the sun hadn’t even risen, and there was only minimal light showing through the curtains. When she unlocked her phone, she felt vindicated. It was only 6 a.m. It was certainly too early to wake Sweet Pea up, she had no clue at what time they had gotten back. He probably stayed up worried for a long time. 

There was still enough time for Lauren to get ready so she could leave for school, so she slowly turned to the side and placed her feet on the cold ground. She made sure to support herself with her arms, so she wouldn’t fall while standing up. When she finally managed to stand, she had to wait a moment before she felt good enough to walk. Her legs were still a bit shaky, but she managed to walk to the small bathroom area where she put some toothpaste on her finger and rubbed it over her teeth. It wasn’t exactly the best method, but at least it made her mouth feel somewhat fresher. In order to feel more awake, she splashed cold water on her face several times but avoided looking into mirror so she wouldn’t scare herself with her own reflection. Lauren knew that she probably looked terrible, but she certainly didn’t need any confirmation of it. 

When she felt just a little better, she left the bathroom and sat down in the kitchen. She didn’t dare put on the coffee machine as Sweet Pea probably hadn’t fixed it since the last time, and she didn’t want to wake up him by hitting the maschine only so she could get a coffee. She’d just stop by at Pop’s before school, and she’d be fine. Her head was still pounding, so she got her bag and searched for some painkillers. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any and so she sat back down, and passed the time by scrolling through her Instagram feed. 

Twenty minutes went by without anything remarkable happening, and Lauren was tempted to just leave so she could go shower back at her house, but she didn’t want to do that to Sweet Pea. He had taken care of the mess she had been last night, and it wouldn’t be fair to just walk out on him. Shortly before the clock struck 7, she saw Sweet Pea slowly waking up. She put on the best smile she could manage despite her pounding head, and put away her phone. 

“Morning” she greeted him when he stood up, and walked towards her. She had to smile at his sleep-stricken look, and stood up so she could hug him.

“Hey” he greeted her, ignored her outstretched arms and pressed a light kiss on her lips. Lauren frowned at his odd behavior.

“What’s wrong?” she asked and watched in awe as he got the coffee machine running without hitting it. She seriously had to ask him how he did that. 

Sweet Pea sighed, and made one hand into fist. “You’re seriously asking what’s wrong?” he spat, causing Lauren to bite her lip out of guilt. She wanted to apologize for being so insensitive, but Sweet Pea was faster. “Sorry, it’s just… I didn’t sleep much.” he apologized, and forced a smile.

“It’s ok. You don’t have to put on an act… if I were you, I’d be angry at me too.” Lauren said, a sad look on her face. 

Sweet Pea sighed. “I’m not angry. I just spent the whole night trying to figure out how to get you out of this mess.”

“Oh…”

So she had told him something last night. Now she only had to figure out how much exactly he knew. She had to be careful with what she said. 

“You want coffee?” Sweet Pea asked her and Lauren nodded, not trusting herself to speak in case she said something insensitive again. 

Lauren watched as he made her coffee, and thanked him softly afterwards. Together they sat down on the couch and drank their coffee in silence. Lauren’s thoughts raced. She wanted to ask him if he had found a solution to her problem, but she didn’t want to offend him by making him feel like she was only using him. God forbid, he found out why she had sought him out that night. He’d hate her for it. 

“You’re seriously not mad?” Lauren asked again, after the silence had made her insecurities so much louder. 

Sweet Pea sighed, and put his empty mug down on the floor. “I already told you that I’m not.”

“I know, I just... feel like you should be… you know, mad at me.” Lauren stuttered, looking at the floor, afraid that if she would look at him she’d burst into tears. She wanted to tell him about the night of the incident, but then he’d put the pieces together and find out that she used him as an alibi. 

Sweet Pea smiled warmly at her. “I can’t be mad at you for something like this, I’m the one who is in a gang, remember?” he tried to reassure her, chuckling awkwardly. Lauren forced a smile at him, holding her mug so tightly that her knuckles turned white. 

“Yeah, but... I’m not, and I still did something terrible.” Lauren said somberly.

“You still think that you killed… the person?” Sweet Pea asked hesitantly, like he was afraid of hearing the answer. 

Lauren frowned. “I said that?” she asked confused. What had driven her to say that last night? Maybe the drugs had messed with her mind so much, that she had actually believed that she had been the one committing a murder. 

Lauren sighed. She was never going to take drugs again. If they had already messed up her memory from just taking them once, what kind of damage could they do to someone who took them regularly? Lauren reminded herself that she knew exactly what it looked like. Her mother was the perfect example.

Sweet Pea narrowed his eyes, looking at her expectantly. “So you didn’t commit a murder?” he asked, sounding almost relieved. 

Lauren bit her lip, thinking of how she could explain everything. “No, I didn’t. Two other people did, and held Peyton and me at gunpoint so we would cover it up. We went to the Sheriff’s station, so we could save ourselves.” she blurted out. “They took her car, so we thought if we found it, we could locate them, and get them to confess so our sentence could be lessened. It was a stupid plan” she admitted. God, it felt good to let it all out and tell someone that she trusted about what she had done. There was only one small detail she had left out. 

Sweet Pea shook his head. “It wasn’t a stupid plan” he tried to comfort her, but Lauren wouldn’t have it. 

“It was a stupid plan, don’t try to convince me otherwise.” she told him, finality in her voice. “We thought it would make us look better if they confessed, but that’s an illusion. We’d be accessories to their crime, and even if we’d get a lesser sentence, we’d still go to jail for what we did… so the best thing to do right now is to sit on my hands and keep my mouth shut.” Lauren ended her rant and looked at Sweet Pea, who was looking skeptically at her. He didn’t seem to agree. 

“Look FP, covered up a crime, and they want him to be behind bars for minimum 20 years. ” she tried again. 

“No. FP willingly covered it up, you were held at gunpoint. That’s a different story” Sweet Pea argued back. 

“Fine” Lauren mumbled. “But what about Peyton? She ran away with all the information…” Lauren argued. 

Sweet Pea sighed. “I don’t know her like you do, but she left you for dead. If it comes down to it, you’ll have to throw her under the bus or she’ll do the same to you.”

Lauren swallowed. Self-preservation should be her only concern right now, but she still felt bad about the possibility of betraying her friend. Maybe Peyton just got scared, and had acted impulsively. Lauren couldn’t rule out the hope of her best friend returning home, so they could help each other out of the mess they had built. Lauren stood up to take the mugs back to the kitchen. In reality, she needed a quick break to sort out her thoughts, to make sure that she wouldn’t tell Sweet Pea too much. She relied on his help, she couldn’t scare him away now. 

“You want me to be mad at you?” Sweet Pea asked frowning when she returned. Lauren shrugged, and sat back down next to him. 

“I don’t know, maybe I’d feel better if you did” Lauren answered truthfully. Her bad conscience had only grown since last night. 

Sweet Pea grimaced like he couldn’t believe her thought process. “I don’t think that it’ll help you if I’m angry. What you need right now is someone who isn’t panicking, which is exactly what you’re doing.” 

“Maybe you’re right” Lauren admitted. 

“Of course I am.” Sweet Pea smiled, and put his hand on her knee, stroking it comfortingly.  
Lauren watched as he contemplated something. She knew when he was concentrated on figuring something out. He usually narrowed his eyes, and he became really tense.He finally lifted his head and looked her straight in the eyes.

“If I’m gonna help you, I need to know absolutely everything.” Lauren tensed. No. This was not what she wanted to happen. She couldn’t tell him about everything, she was certain he would push her away if she did. She had just won his loyalty, his trust, a few weeks ago, and all of that would fade away if he figured out what she had done to him. Sweet Pea might act tough, but he truly was sensitive on the inside. He didn’t take well to betrayal. 

“When did it happen?” Sweet Pea asked, looking her dead in the eye. Lauren froze. Everything stopped in this moment. She could hear her heart beating faster, and her hands started shaking. She made them into fists to avoid another panic attack. She really didn’t need to repeat that. She needed to calm down in order to do this.

“It’s okay. You can tell me.” Sweet Pea assured her, his voice soft, the hand on her knee caressing her skin. 

“I…, it was when” she began, but couldn’t complete the sentence. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the consequences of what she was about to say. “It was... the night when I came here…” she mumbled, not opening her eyes. She was afraid of his reaction, she didn’t want to see him mad. 

“Which night do you mean?” he asked, his voice growing quieter with every word. 

Lauren breathed in deeply. This was it. She was going to tell him that she used him as an alibi, and he was going to hate her for it forever. “The night when we had sex” she admitted, tears on the brink of falling. 

Lauren heard Sweet Pea’s breath hitch, but he remained silent, probably too shocked to say anything. She felt sick to her stomach, and she’d love nothing more than to just flee and hide under her bed. But in reality she had to face the consequences of her actions, and so she very slowly opened her eyes to look at Sweet Pea.  
His eyes were dark and fixated on her, his lips pressed together, and Lauren could see that his right hand was shaking from anger. 

“Please. Just… just say something” she begged him, her voice thin. Everything in her was tense. Ironically, she didn’t feel like crying anymore. She was running on adrenaline, just like the night of the incident. The night she had betrayed Sweet Pea’s trust in order to save herself. 

Sweet Pea laughed bitterly and wiped his mouth. “And what am I supposed to say, huh?” his voice was quiet, a certain edge to it that made Lauren instinctively make herself small. Sweet noticed her behavior and laughed again. The sound rang in Lauren’s ears, and made her want to be as far away from him as possible. Suddenly, she was hyper aware of the scary glint in his eyes and the tension in his body. She knew how to read his body language. Her childhood had taught her to pay attention to this kind of behavior. She was scared of what could happen, and so she very gingerly slid a few inches away from him, just in case. 

“I am not him.” Sweet Pea stressed, his voice still sounding off. He wasn’t usually so quiet, it scared her. 

“Of course not” Lauren replied rapidly, not wanting to upset him further. She had done enough damage already. It wouldn’t take much more to put him over the edge. He was in a gang, he wasn’t above certain methods. Sweet Pea is not like your father, she argued with herself, trying to make herself see reason. But that wasn’t so easy if you had learned certain patterns your entire life. 

“What did you want when you came here that night?” he asked. 

Lauren swallowed. She was just going to answer his question, and then she could leave and hideout somewhere. Lauren took a deep breath, and then said the words that she had been dreading to say since that night: “I needed an alibi.”

Sweet Pea clenched his fists, visibly shaking with anger. Lauren saw no other choice but to stand up and take a few steps to distance herself from him. Sweet Pea didn’t acknowledge her behavior, but only stared at the ground. Something in her wanted to go and comfort him, but she knew better. She felt like if she were to do that, he would explode, which he would hate himself for later. Despite her fear she didn’t want him to carry that burden, so she stayed away.

“I should’ve known, after that one night where we almost…” Sweet Pea stopped himself in the middle of his sentence. Lauren’s throat clogged up when she thought back to what happened back then, how she had told him about her childhood. “You wouldn’t have let me get so close to you without a motive behind it.”

Lauren wanted to protest, wanted to say that that was not true, that her feelings for him had been the reason, but she couldn't. What he was saying was true. She had never been ready to be intimate with him, and had only let her herself go so far, so he would later testify that she had been with him that night. 

“Leave. I need to be alone.” he hissed, his voice trembling like he was close to tears. All of a sudden she felt guilty about being scared of him, even though it was not her fault that her reaction had been so extreme. 

“I’m really sorry, Sweet Pea. This is not what I wanted” she apologized as she grabbed her bag and her phone and opened the door to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Olive for your help, you're the best!
> 
> I'm not going to post over the holidays, so expect the next chapter in the beginning of January at the earliest. 
> 
> Happy Holidays everyone!


	7. Time

Lauren walked down the streets towards her house feeling low. Her aching head prevented her from walking in a fast pace and reminded her of last nights antics. Maybe she deserved the pain after all that she had done. 

It took her more than fifteen minutes to return to her house, and upon arrival she was so tired that Lauren settled for simply using some dry shampoo on her hair and applying basic makeup. People weren’t supposed to see that she had spent last night being high and drunk.   
Her pupils were still wider than usual, but Lauren had to just hope that no one would notice.

As she sat down at the dining table, she contemplated contacting Sweet Pea to make sure that he was alright. But of course she couldn’t do that. She was probably the last person he wanted to hear from now. There was someone else though she really needed to contact. Peyton.

She nervously tapped her foot against the floor as she searched for Peyton’s number. When she had found it in her contacts, it took her another minute to actually dial the number. With a pounding heart she held her phone against her ear, and waited for the beeping to end. 

“We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is currently not available.”

Lauren let out a frustrated groan, and almost threw her phone against the wall.   
She sighed, rubbing her hand over her face. It felt like the somewhat peaceful life that she had led up to this point, had been thrown out of the window for something way more dramatic. 

I won’t be able to take this much longer, she thought to herself. But for now she had to go to school and act like everything was fine. At the end of this year she was probably going to be a master of acting. 

Lauren walked to school slowly, not wanting to face other people. Her bad mood got worse with every step she took, and when she arrived at school the only thing she wanted to do was to turn around and go back home, so she could sleep all day. But she didn’t have much of a choice, she needed to pretend to be okay. 

She breathed in deeply two or three times and then proceeded to walk into school. 

There she walked down the halls towards her locker where she put in her Biology and her Math textbooks she wouldn’t need for another two hours. Her eyes felt heavy and she yawned as she started walking down the hallway. If she was going to survive this day, she’d need another dose of caffeine. She made her way to the lounge and got herself a cup of coffee. Lauren sat down on the unoccupied couch, put the coffee on the table so it could cool down a little, and leaned her head against the headrest, praying that no one else had the idea to use the lounge to relax. 

Her peace ended after exactly two minutes. Lauren was just about to reach for her cup when she heard the clinking of high heels against the wooden floor. 

“Lauren Dabney, what a surprise to see you here” Cheryl Blossom’s silky voice called out. Lauren sighed lowly, grabbed her coffee and took a sip, so she wouldn’t have to talk to Cheryl. The last thing she needed right now was the other girl’s curiosity. 

“Cheryl Blossom. What a pleasure” she greeted back when she had finished her sip, forcing a smile. On the one hand Lauren wanted to maintain her facade of being perfectly fine, on the other hand she really couldn’t be bothered to keep her act up. Cheryl would always find a reason to be mean, and Lauren couldn’t care less about what the redhead thought about her.

 _Be careful of what you show to her_ , the voice in her head reminded her. _Cheryl likes to gossip._

“Oh Lauren, dear. I’m as delighted as you are.” Cheryl sat down on the chair opposite of Lauren, placing her school necessities on her own lap, tapping her perfect manicured nails against the surface of her folder.

“Were you out on a wild ride yesterday? Your voice sounds more terrible than usual.” Cheryl commented in her usual mocking tone, crossing her legs. Lauren rolled her eyes. Of course someone with such a silky, smooth voice wouldn’t like Lauren’s rougher, lower tone. Not that Lauren particularly cared about the tone of her voice. 

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Cheryl” Lauren answered with a scowl on her face. Cheryl didn’t need to know that Lauren had been drunk and high out of her mind last night because Peyton had left her for dead after they had broken into the Sheriff’s station. 

Couldn’t Cheryl go about her way and annoy the hell out of anyone else? Why did Lauren have to be her victim today? It wasn’t like Lauren ever really interacted with her. Lauren wasn’t part of the River Vixens, nor did she have any other ties to the popular crowd of Riverdale High, except her occasional talks with Betty. But they seemed insignificant. So what could she possibly want? Cheryl was not the type of girl to talk to someone without a motive.

 _You always have a motive behind your actions too, Lauren_ , she reminded herself. 

“I’m guessing it has to do with the Serpents?” Cheryl asked, a smirk framing her perfect face, playing with a streak of her shining hair. 

“How would you know?” Lauren mumbled, her fingers tightening around the coffee cup.

Cheryl chuckled. “You know that I have thing for pretty jewelry, but that ring you’re showing off has caught not just my attention but also everyone else’s” she explained amused, her head nodding at the ring on Lauren’s left hand - the hand that she used to hold her coffee. Lauren cursed under her breath, sat the cup back down, and pulled the ends of her sweater down so the ring wasn’t in plain view.

Cheryl commented at Lauren’s actions with a raised eyebrow. “I’m sure hanging out with a gang member has burned off all of your remaining brain cells, but you have to take it off if you don’t want anyone to see it.” she lectured Lauren.

Lauren only scowled at her. Cheryl didn’t seem bothered, and stood up, flicking her hair back. “A storm is coming, Lauren. You don’t want to stand on the wrong side when it arrives.”

“Mind your own damn business” Lauren replied, but Cheryl was already on her way.   
Lauren sighed, rubbed her eyes, and went back to leaning against the headrest. She still needed to relax a bit before she went to her class. 

 

Sweet Pea sat at his usual table and stared into the air. On the outside he was listening to whatever Fangs was saying, but on the inside he was replaying the scene of this morning. He still couldn’t quite believe what Lauren had told him. She had used his feelings for her own gain, and had totally discarded how he might feel about it. Dammit, she should’ve just told him everything from the beginning, it wasn’t like he needed protection from gruesome things such as a murder cover up, and he would gladly given her the alibi that she needed. 

But no, instead of confiding in him, she had gone right behind his back, and Sweet Pea couldn’t just forgive her like it was nothing. 

He had thought that she was different from all those Northsiders, and he certainly still believed that she wasn’t as entitled to her opinion as others. Nevertheless, she had only looked out for herself. It was a pattern he witnessed way too often. A Northsider who had messed up using a Southsider in order to save themselves. He never would have thought that Lauren would do something like that. He had to admit that he was surprised of what she was capable of. 

_With a family like that you’ll become fucked up_ , he thought to himself before being interrupted by Toni who sat down opposite of him, a curious look on her face.

“What?” he hissed at her. He couldn’t keep his anger out of his voice. Holding himself back wouldn’t do any good.

Toni raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned slightly forward. “So is your girl okay? That was quite an episode yesterday.” 

Sweet Pea sighed. Should he tell her the truth or just some parts? Toni didn’t need to know everything, even though she was one of his best friends. And, although, he was angry at Lauren and felt betrayed, he wouldn’t simply tell people her secret. He didn’t want her in jail. 

“What?” Toni inquired. 

“It’s nothing.” Sweet Pea tried to reassure her, but by the sceptical look on her face she wasn’t having it. 

“I know that look on your face.” Toni said, raising an eyebrow, staring at him questioningly. “Spill.”

Sweet Pea sighed. He really couldn’t tell her much. “Those drugs really did a number on her, you know? She had memory loss and all that.” Sweet Pea explained, leaving the details out. 

“Oh shit.” Toni breathed out, a concerned look on her face. “Sounds like Jingle Jangle” she argued. 

Sweet Pea nodded. “Yeah. I thought so too” he agreed dejected. 

“Is she okay now?” Toni asked, uncrossing her arms, placing them on the table, tapping her fingers against the plastic surface. “She seemed… nice, just a little misguided maybe” she added, a soft smile on her lips. 

Sweet Pea nodded, feeling conflicted. On any other day he would’ve been happy that Toni liked Lauren, but now he didn’t know what to think about it. Besides, he couldn’t exactly tell Toni that Lauren was alright when he had thrown her out of his trailer just a few hours ago. 

In a few hours he would surely regret that decision, but in that moment it had been the best decision he could’ve made. He had flipped shortly after she had left, wrecking the room.  
Sweet Pea was sure that Lauren had at least some idea of what he was capable of, but seeing it was a different thing. And with her family history, it would’ve pushed her to the point of no return. 

 

“I think I broke up with her.” he admitted. Toni’s face fell, looking at him shocked like she couldn’t believe what he had just said. Understandable, Toni had only met Lauren yesterday.

“You think?” she inquired. 

“I didn’t say it, but you know how it is. She probably thinks that we’re through.” he explained vaguely. It was really difficult to tell Toni what had happened, without telling her too many details.

Toni sighed exasperated. “So, talk to her and tell her that you didn’t mean what you said…” she advised him. “Or did you really mean it?” she asked as an afterthought, glaring at Sweet Pea skeptically. 

“I was mad. No, I’m still mad, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want her anymore. Besides, she’s the one who should apologize” Sweet Pea explained himself. 

“Oh, Sweet Pea.” Toni said, an amused look on your face. “Has no one ever told you that this is not how girls work?” she asked payfully, smirking at him. 

Sweet Pea raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to make the first move this time.” he set the record straight. 

Toni shook her head, smiling at him. “For all of our sakes, I hope she isn’t as stubborn as you are. I really don’t want to deal with a sad Sweet Pea.” she remarked smiling at him. Sweet Pea only rolled his eyes, she’d have to put up with him no matter his mood. 

 

For the next two hours Lauren desperately tried to concentrate on what the teachers were saying in order to blend out her pounding headache and her heartache. It was a technique she learned when she had been very young, and she used it frequently when she didn’t want to deal with her feelings. It worked well for her first class. Her English teacher was talking about a book she really liked, so she got really invested in his words and distracted herself by writing down notes.

But her second class was History, a subject she was not particularly interested in which made it significantly more difficult to follow her teacher. She was capable of ignoring her headache to some extent, over the years physical pain had gotten less daunting and she had got used its presence. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the fight she had with Sweet Pea this morning. 

She knew that she needed to apologize eventually, but she didn’t know how to reach him. He was probably going to be mad at her for a while, and Lauren shied away from dealing with angry people. She would give him a few days to cool off before she would attempt to talk to him. Even if that meant that she had to endure the heartache for that time. 

After her history class, she went to her locker to switch up her books, and then went to the cafeteria to get lunch. On her way to there, Betty walked up to her, asking her if she wanted to eat lunch with her. Lauren couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse, so she agreed. A little distraction would do her good. 

Lauren only chose a salad, since she didn’t feel like eating a whole lot - she’d probably throw up if she ate more - and sat down with her plate. Betty had chosen a table close to the wall, far away from everyone else. Lauren welcomed that decision. 

If what Cheryl had told her earlier was true, then most people probably didn’t want to interact with her anymore, as they thought that Lauren’s loyalty lay with the wrong kind of people. Lauren remembered a time when the two sides of the town hadn’t been so divided, it was truly sad how fast things could change. 

They ate in silence. Lauren only took a few bites of her salad before her stomach rebelled by starting to ache obnoxiously. Not wanting to get sick, Lauren put her fork down and rinsed out her mouth with water. Throughout the whole time Betty kept examining her, like she was trying to figure out what was wrong with Lauren. 

“Did you and your boyfriend have a fight?” Betty asked abruptly. Lauren swallowed the water she had been drinking, and had a coughing fit. Lauren paled under Betty’s scrutinizing look.

“What gave me away?” Lauren asked puzzled. She had thought that she had acted convincingly throughout the day. She had acted mellow, like she always did. 

“You looked at your ring with that wistful expression a few times” Betty explained, a reassuring smile on her face.

“Oh. I didn’t even notice that” Lauren admitted, feeling dumb. She should’ve just taken the damn ring off. But then her fight with Sweet Pea and the following silence would become all too real. The ring served no real purpose here at Riverdale High, but at least it kept her hopes of a reconciliation with Sweet Pea alive. 

“You should call him. Sometimes you only have to talk to the person to work things out” Betty said, a convincing look on her face. Lauren chuckled bitterly with downcast eyes before she lifted her head to look at Betty while she spoke. 

“Maybe you and Jughead can work things out that way, but it’s not how things work with me and Sweet Pea.“ she blurted out, widening her eyes as soon as the last words escaped her lips. She had just name dropped him in front of Betty - without thinking about it - who now knew exactly who Lauren was talking about. To her credit Betty didn’t bat an eye, and continued like nothing had happened. 

“Jughead and I communicate, that’s why we work” Betty explained, a puppy-eyed look on her face. Lauren swallowed a remark on how they were basically an old married couple who communicated by looking into each others’ eyes, and didn’t reply. 

“Call him” Betty insisted softly, laying her hand on Lauren’s, an encouraging smile on her lips. Lauren sighed, giving in, and grabbed her phone from her bag. She lay the phone on the table and started typing in Sweet Pea’s number. 

“I don’t know, Betty. This doesn’t seem like a good idea.” Lauren said, trying to convince Betty to simply leave it alone. 

But the other girl wasn’t having it, staring at Lauren with such a pitiful look that coerced Lauren in tapping the call button. Lauren stared at the phone while it connected the call. She didn’t know what she wanted to happen. On one hand, it would crush her if Sweet Pea simply rejected the call, but on the other hand she had no clue what to say if he were to pick up the phone.

The first turned out to be true as the call was suddenly disconnected and the phone returned to the home area. Lauren swallowed painfully, ignoring the surprised sound that came out of Betty’s mouth. 

“Told you he wouldn’t answer” Lauren bit out lowly, tears in her eyes. All of a sudden she felt sick to her stomach and had to leave the cafeteria to go to the bathroom, mumbling a half hearted excuse to a dumbfounded Betty.


	8. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally had the time to upload this.
> 
> I'm currently in a pre-exam phase, so I might not upload a lot of chapters in the near future. (Chapter Nine, however, is almost finished, so look forward to that.)
> 
> Thanks again to Olive (you can find her @southsidepea)!
> 
> Also a huge shoutout and thank you to Finstoked for the comments!

Lauren decided to hide in a bathroom stall to avoid Betty for the rest of the break. Lauren knew that Betty meant well, but she forced Lauren to come face to face with how she felt about her fight with Sweet Pea, feelings she desperately wanted to ignore. In the back of her mind Lauren knew that Sweet Pea was mad at her and probably wouldn’t answer her, but seeing him reject her call was a whole different story. Lauren was still a little jittery, at one point she felt so sick that she thought she was going to throw up. Fortunately, she was able to whisk the sickness and the shakiness away before she had to head out to her locker, in order to get her Biology and her Math textbooks. 

The rest of the school day went by slowly, and by the end of it, Lauren was so tired that she only wanted to lie down and sleep for a day. Her headache was stronger than ever and Lauren swore that she was never going to touch drugs again. With slow steps she walked towards the door, almost reveling in the thought of getting out of school and breathing fresh air again. As if all of her problems would then simply fade away. She was almost out of the door when she heard loud steps running towards her. 

“Lauren! Thank God you’re still here” Betty called out from behind her. Lauren stopped dead in her tracks, frowning as she turned around to face her. Betty smiled at her, a mixture of concern and determination on her face. 

“Look Betty. I’m grateful that you’re concerned about my wellbeing, but I really need to get going” Lauren explained, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. She really needed to get home and sleep for a while. There was no point in worrying about things when she couldn’t even think because her head was pounding relentlessly. 

“I could walk you home” Betty offered, shouldering her bag. 

“You live in the opposite direction” Lauren stated. She was confused as to why Betty suddenly cared so much, since she had never paid much attention to Lauren and her life before. 

“I could use a walk” Betty insisted, locking her arm with Lauren’s, dragging her along.  
Lauren sighed, but didn’t protest. She didn’t feel like anything she could say would stop Betty in her quest. 

They walked in silence for a while, Lauren leading the way. To her dismay the fresh air didn’t help to soothe her headache. Any other time she would’ve just taken a simple painkiller, but she had no idea how they would react to the drugs which were surely still in her system. 

“So I’ve been thinking…” Betty started when they had just crossed the street from which Lauren’s house was already visible. 

“Mhm?” Lauren encouraged her. 

“I really think you should confront your boyfriend about your fight. Silence is not going to solve anything.”

Lauren breathed in deeply and wasn’t able to suppress rolling her eyes. “Betty, I know you mean well. But as I said, I think it’s better that I wait until Sweet Pea’s initial anger is over, so that we can talk civilly.”

Betty didn’t seem all that convinced, but let the topic rest and dropped Lauren off at her house. Lauren thought for a second that Betty was actually going to hug her, but fortunately that was not the case. Instead, Betty gave her a warm smile before turning around and walk away. Entering the house, she threw her bag on the floor, removed her shoes and her jacket and then went upstairs to go to sleep. 

 

Sweet Pea was hanging out at the quarry with Fangs and some other guys. Initially he had wanted to go back home after school, but Fangs had convinced him to come hang out. It hadn’t taken Fangs much time to figure out that something was wrong and had demanded Sweet Pea to tell him the truth. 

Sweet Pea had told him the same abridged version as Toni, and even though Fangs had seemed to know that he had left something out, he didn’t dig further, just clapped him on the back, saying that all he needed was some distraction. And that’s how they came to be here.   
Sweet Pea sat on a big, grey stone, dangling his legs. Fangs had gone to get drinks from some of the other guys who had just arrived a few minutes ago. 

“Still sulking?” a teasing voice called out. Sweet Pea immediately recognized it as Toni’s and rolled his eyes. 

“I’m not sulking, Topaz.” he defended himself rather weakly, it wasn’t like he was particularly trying to convince her. Toni wouldn’t believe him even if he tried. 

“Sure.” Toni called out sarcastically, rolling her eyes, but sat down beside him regardless. Much to Sweet Pea’s relief, they sat in silence. Toni had obviously picked up on his bad mood and was not keen on making it worse by chattering about incoherent gossip that didn’t interest him in the slightest. 

“You should talk to her.” Toni said out of the blue, tilting her head back, bathing her skin in the little sunlight that was left with closed eyes. 

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes and swallowed back a sigh.

“I don’t want to talk to her.” Sweet Pea said, surprised on how much he actually meant that. He’d never admit it to anyone else but he was genuinely hurt by Lauren’s actions and simply not talking to her seemed like the best way to push aside his feelings. He was sure that he’d give in at some point, but for now he’d stick to it. 

“Like hell you don’t. You’ve been acting weird all day, and you want to tell me that you’re fine?” Toni argued, opening her eyes and moving her head so she could angrily stare at him. 

Sweet Pea didn’t answer. 

Toni huffed. “Staying quiet never solved anything, you know?” she said in a mocking tone, rolling her eyes. 

“Like you’re some kind of relationship expert” Sweet Pea remarked, rolling his eyes. Toni laughed. 

“Everyone’s an expert compared to you” she remarked teasingly, a grin on her face, bumping her shoulder into his. 

Sweet Pea shrugged and threw a stone into the quarry, following it down with his eyes. 

Not long after that Fangs returned with three bottles of beer in his hands. He sat down next to Sweet Pea, handing him the beer and looked at Toni. “Hey, Topaz. Took you awhile. You want a beer?” he asked, holding the bottle up, smiling at her. 

Toni smiled warmly, but declined. 

“Thanks Fangs, but I really gotta go. I promised Jughead to help put some more glamor into the Red and Black” she explained chuckling, brushing some of her hair out of her face. 

“You hanging out with Jones now?” Sweet Pea asked sneering, his hands holding the bottle tightly. 

“Stop being so passive aggressive, Pea. It’s not our fault you have relationship issues.” Toni remarked, crossing her arms. 

Sweet Pea grinded his teeth. “Just saying,” he said when he had calmed down and raised his arms defensively. “He doesn’t give a damn about any of us so why should we?” he hissed, throwing another stone. “And don’t give me that crap about loyalty.” 

“Jesus, Pea. Just fucking talk to your girl or some shit. Leave us alone with your crap, no one wants to hear you moaning about your love life.” Toni complained, clearly pissed at him.

“Did I hit a nerve?” Sweet Pea taunted her, not bothered by her outburst. “You like Jones or something?”

Toni sighed, and put her head in her hands for a moment before she looked up. She had a weird mixture of pity and determination on her face, Sweet Pea hated it. He didn’t need her or anyone else’s pity. 

“Look, Pea. I get that you’re hurting and that’s why you’re acting like such an asshole, but I’m not gonna take your shit, so I’m out of here.”

“Oh, come on, Toni. We’re just getting started” Fangs protested from beside Sweet Pea with a smirk, and opened the three bottles.

“Another time, Fangs. As I said, I really gotta go” she spat at them. 

Fangs rolled his eyes at her words, but smiled nonetheless. “You can drink it on the way there” he said, placing the beer into Toni’s hand. Toni rolled her eyes, but accepted the beer anyway before standing up. 

“Thanks for the beer.” she said, shouldering her bag, raising the bottle into the air as if she wanted to propose a toast. Then she took five steps backwards and stopped as if she had just thought of something. “You guys wanna come with me?” she asked, voicing a peace offer. 

“Don’t care.” Sweet Pea huffed, taking a sip from his beer. He watched Fangs and Toni raise their eyebrows at him, but chose to ignore it. He knew that his friends we’re just concerned about him, but he really didn’t need them to throw him a pity party.

Fangs bumped his shoulder into Sweet Pea’s. “Got something better to do?” he asked, a smile on his face. 

Sweet Pea sighed, annoyed by his friend’s good mood. He wanted his friends to stop annoying him with their stupid tips. But he knew that being left alone with his thoughts was not going to help him at all, so he gave in and stood up. 

“I guess not” he said, ignored Fangs’ and Toni’s odd looks, and joined them in walking to Southside High. 

 

Two hours later Lauren woke up from her nap. She felt slightly better than before and so she slowly got out of bed and walked out of her room down the hall to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, the warm water losing some of her tense muscles. Afterwards she wrapped her body in her favorite bathrobe and walked back to her room. There she dried her hair and put it in a messy bun, before putting on a sweater and sweatpants. She was just about to check her phone when she heard glasses shatter from downstairs. Cursing under her breath, she stood up and flew down the stairs. 

At the last pairs of stairs she slowed down and listened for any other noise. She heard a quiet whimper from the kitchen. “Fuck” she cursed, and went ahead. She had her suspicions on who it could be, but she didn’t know how to feel about it. 

Her suspicions were verified when she stepped into the kitchen and saw her mother Mary, sobbing on the floor, glass surrounding her. Lauren took a step back to assess the situation. Mary’s usual blonde hair was so oily and clung to her face so that it was almost unrecognizable. Her teeth were chattering, and tears ran down her cheeks. Mary tried to hold herself together by wrapping her arms around her chest, but Lauren could see that it was barely helping. Unsure of how to approach her mother, Lauren remained where she was. 

“Mom?” she asked tentatively, not knowing whether her mother was sober enough to notice her, and more importantly if she would panic upon seeing her daughter. Her mother showed no signs of having heard her, so Lauren took a few steps forwards and tried to get her mother’s attention again. 

“Mom? Are you okay? It’s me, Lauren.” she whispered in a soft voice, not wanting to scare her. 

“Lauren?” her mother asked, turning her head, confused. Lauren swallowed her disappointment and took a few more steps, until she was as close to her mother as possible without touching the broken glass and knelt down.

“Yeah. Lauren, your daughter” Lauren tried to get her to understand. Her voice wavered, she was trying not to cry. 

“Lauren? Is it you?” her mother asked, her eyes clearing up a bit. 

“Yes, mom. It’s me. Where have you been?” Lauren asked. She didn’t expect an honest answer from her, but she had to at least try. 

“I was taking a phone call, someone was calling me…” Lauren’s mother started to explain. Lauren zoned out. She knew that her mother was just going to lie her way out of the truth. 

“Your father is coming here” she explained stuttering. Lauren’s head flew up, staring at her mother puzzled.   
“I’m so sorry, Lauren. I couldn’t stop him from coming” she apologized, but Lauren was already shaking. This could not be happening. The last time he had bothered them with his presence, he had at least stayed at the hotel and Lauren had only faced him with other people close by.

Lauren reminded herself that he had threatened to come to their house next time to ensure his dominant role in their family, despite living in New York for most of the year. Suddenly, Lauren regretted that she had never gone to the police to tell them about her father, but she had been so relieved when he had left that she hadn’t considered it. She hadn’t known that he wouldn’t hold his promise of never returning. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so naive, but she thought that she had deserved to hold on to that hope. And now he was going to return to bother them again. He couldn’t just stay in New York, no, he needed to make sure that he still held all of the power. And Lauren did not know what to do to prevent him.

Her mother kept talking about how sorry she was, but Lauren couldn’t continue listening to her and ran upstairs where she locked herself in the bathroom and began to cry. 

 

It took Sweet Pea, Toni and Fangs about twenty minutes to walk to Southside High. They would’ve been faster if Fangs hadn’t had to go into every shop on the way, because he was hungry, every time coming out empty handed. His explanation was that he didn’t want to spend his money because he had already spent his share on the beer.

Sweet Pea did not care much about his friend’s antics and only rolled his eyes every once in awhile. Toni kept looking at him like he had grown a second head. He knew why she was concerned, but he was not going to comment on it anymore. 

They stopped on the parking lot.  
“Oh shit.” Toni cursed all of a sudden, facepalming herself. “I forgot the teapot. I need to go” she called out, and walked away without saying anything. 

“I gotta go too. I’m really hungry. See ya, Sweet Pea” Fangs excused himself, patting Sweet Pea on the shoulder before he walked away.

Now it was just him. Well, it was only 6 p.m. so he could still go to the Whyte Wrym to play some pool. He was just about to go when he was interrupted by someone. 

“Wait a minute. Are you Sweet Pea?” a girlish voice called out from behind him. Sweet Pea turned around to see a short, blonde haired girl with a ponytail and a warm smile on her face. 

“Who do you think you are?” Sweet Pea hissed at her, but the girl seemed unimpressed. She just kept smiling, and tilted her head, her ponytail swinging. 

“My name is Betty. Don’t even think about threatening me. I’m with Jug. I’m also armed.” she explained, holding up a silver teapot. 

Sweet Pea raised an eyebrow and stepped aside so she could enter the building. He didn’t like Jughead much, but he was not about to threaten his girlfriend. To his surprise, she didn’t enter the building, but remained on her spot, looking at him with determination. 

“I have to talk to you about something.” she started. 

Sweet Pea crossed his arms and shrugged. What the hell could this girl want from him? He had never met her and certainly did not want to get to know her. He was reminded of what Lauren had said about her, and she didn’t seem like someone he could be friends with. Even though he doubted that Lauren would like it if he was friends with other girls, except Toni. He hoped that his brooding look would scare her so that she would just go, but she was resilient in her quest. 

“Look, I get that you and Lauren are fighting, and maybe there is a good reason for you to be so angry that you don’t want to talk to her.” she started to rant, only stopping for a short time to take a breath. ”I was with her today when you declined her call.” she explained. Sweet Pea cracked his knuckles and narrowed his eyes.

“I saw how bad she feels, and she is really good at keeping her emotions hidden. So please just go and talk to her. It won’t hurt you.” she continued with a smile. Sweet Pea scowled. She didn’t know that Lauren only felt bad because she had a massive hangover.

“I don’t recall the two of you being friends.” he said, changing the subject so that she stopped attacking him. 

For the first time Betty’s smile fell from her face. “You’re right” she admitted, pulling at her ponytail. “I don’t know much about Lauren, but I wish I did so I could help her.” she said. 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about her” Sweet Pea said, uncrossing his arms, and walked away. He was not going to let himself be bothered by her anymore.


	9. Despair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TRIGGER WARNING* This chapter includes depictions of violence and child abuse.

Sweet Pea sat by the table, typing on his phone, ignoring whatever the teacher was talking about. It had been three days since Lauren had made any contact, which seriously concerned him. Deep down, he knew he should’ve just gone and talked to her, but his stupid pride prevented him from doing so. At this point, he had just come to accept the silence surrounding them and their relationship. 

Lauren, however, had reached out to him three days ago, telling him that she wanted to talk. What pissed him off was that she also told him she didn't have a lot of time because of school, which he thought was bullshit.

Just as the teacher started talking about the message he saw behind the required book, Sweet Pea's phone vibrated indicating a new message. He quickly opened the text, hoping that Lauren had finally broken her silence, but unfortunately it was only one of his boys.

 _Your girlfriend's dad is back in town._ Sweet Pea stared at the message as his mind started racing. 

"What? Dammit!" he yelled loudly, and stormed out of the classroom, not caring about the odd looks he received. He ran outside, typed in Lauren's number, and waited for her to pick up. Almost a minute passed until Lauren finally picked up, by which he had almost given up. 

"Hey, Sweet Pea. Why are you calling me? Is something wrong?" her voice sounded shaky, and Sweet Pea frowned. Her voice usually had a lot more substance.

"Hey. Where are you?" he ignored her questions, getting straight to the point. He didn't mention his friend’s message, he certainly didn't want to scare her. 

She coughed, and then answered: "I'm at school. Where else?" 

"Just… I really want to talk you.”

“Oh.” she mumbled, a hint of disappointment apparent in her tone. “Okay. Can we meet at your place? Let’s say around 5?” 

Sweet Pea couldn’t help thinking there was something not right with the way she talked. She sounded like she was extremely uncomfortable and his mind went straight to her father. _She’s at school. She’s fine._ he thought, swallowing his anger and tried his best to sound normal. 

"Yeah, see you then.”

"Okay." Lauren agreed. "I really got to go back to class" she said dismissively. Sweet Pea again wondered what was going on but decided to believe her. 

"See you then." she said, and then hung up. Sweet Pea stared at his phone for a moment, before sighing and going back into the school. 

 

Lauren breathed out relieved after she hung up. She didn't want him to know what was going on in her house, it would only break his heart. Although, she had already taken care of that.

"Sounds like your boyfriend is not coming for you, baby girl." she heard her father’s voice beside her. Lauren turned her head, even though it hurt to move at all. Her father still held the gun in his hands, but at least it wasn't pointed at her head anymore. She didn't think he was going to pull the trigger but she wasn’t ready to take that risk. 

She wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that if she didn't show up today Sweet Pea would certainly come to her house to search for her. But in fact she didn’t quite believe that he would come for her. After their phone conversation he’d probably just think that she had decided to just not show up and had no interest in making things right between them. Despite these doubts, she hoped with all her heart that Sweet Pea would come around. She knew that if this highly unlikely scenario would take place, her father would have a slim chance of surviving the encounter. Not that she’d particularly mind if he didn’t. 

Shaking away the hopeful thoughts, she convinced herself to start preparing for the fact that she would have to spend more time stuck under the same roof as her father. The only thing she could hope for now was that her father would decide sooner rather than later that he had tormented her enough and decide to return to New York. 

"Now why don't you get me something to drink from the cellar..." her father’s demanding tone brought her back from her thoughts.

Lauren nodded eagerly, trying her best to please him so he wouldn't hit her again. It took her long to stand on her feet. Her whole body was screaming in pain and she desperately wanted to let out a sob but somehow managed not to. She would not succumb to a crying mess, she had sworn herself to never go back to that kind of girl. Her legs were shaking and she had to lean against the wall to stop herself from falling. The blow to her head from earlier really messed with her balance, and she was constantly dizzy.

"But first give me your phone. We wouldn't want to call someone daddy doesn't like, now would we?" Lauren said nothing as she reached for her pocket and handed him her phone. "Now go. I don't have all day" he snarled, dismissing her with a rude hand gesture. Lauren nodded, and took tentative steps towards the staircase. Walking down the stairs was agonizing, and Lauren couldn't stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. She had to stop several times to catch her breath, and when she finally made it down, the thought of having to go back upstairs offered her no comfort. 

Going upstairs was even worse, she held the beer in her right hand, and could only half heartedly grab the handrail so she could hoist herself up. Her stomach protested with pain, and she felt dizzy again. She stopped to get herself together. 

"What is taking you so long?" her father shouted from above. 

"Coming!" she half yelled, her voice breaking at the second syllable. She wiped the tears away, not wanting him to get off on her pain, and proceeded to walk up the stairs as carefully as she could. She let out as a sigh as she finally made it. She opened the beer bottle, and handed it to her father, who had a devilish grin on his face. 

"Now go to your room. I don't want to see your pretty face for a while." 

Lauren nodded, and went to her room as fast as she could. When she finally made it there, she lied down on her bed to at least get some strength back. She only needed to survive for another few hours. She closed her eyes, wishing for Sweet Pea to come and save her. The idea brought tears to her eyes, as she deep down knew that he’d have no real reason to show up here. 

As much as she tried to at least doze for a little while, her aching head would not let her. The silence surrounded her, making her pain so much worse since she didn't have anything to occupy herself with. She could feel every single cut, every single bruise. 

It took her dad three hours to talk to her again. By then the sun had already set. Lauren was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall when he opened the door. Lauren instinctively cowered to make herself smaller. Her father let out an amused laugh. 

"Come on. You don't have to be afraid of me, baby girl. After all, I'm the only one who gives you what you deserve." he said in a soothing tone that sounded threatening in Lauren's ears.

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen." he said, grabbing her arm harshly and hoisting her up, making Lauren cry out in pain. Her vision was flickering, and she had to blink several times to make it clear again. "Now make something to eat, huh?" 

Lauren was terrified. She was a horrible cook, always had been. She knew exactly what was going to come when she served him dinner, so she took as long as she possibly could. But it was no use. When the noodles and the tomato sauce were ready, she put it all on one plate and carefully placed it in front of him. She watched nervously as he tasted the meal, and grew terrified when he looked up with a glare. 

"Oh, baby girl. You should know better. Now I have to punish you again." he tsked at her, wiping his mouth as he stood up and took a step forward, stopping right in front of her. 

"Now where to throw my next punch?" he wondered, cupping her face and running his finger over the bruised skin. "Now we don't want to ruin your pretty face any more, huh? How about…?" his hands traveled over her body, only stopping at her ribs. Shivers were running down her body, and Lauren started to sweat. She bit her lip to prevent herself from crying. 

"Ah yes, this is a good place." He raised his fist, and before Lauren could process what was happening, it landed on her ribs. Lauren cried out in pain, while she fell to the floor. She held her hands protectively in front of her torso, and desperately tried to take slow breaths, as the hit had taken her breath away.

"Now, now. Don't cry, baby girl. Come on, go to the bathroom and clean up, so we can have a nice evening together."

 

Sweet Pea paced back and forth through his trailer. Lauren had not turned up yet, and he was growing more nervous with each minute that passed. He didn't want to think about a worst case scenario. When the clock turned 6 pm he decided there was no point in waiting, and called up some of his boys.

Twenty minutes later he was standing in front of Lauren's house. Sweet Pea told the three boys who had come with him to stay put, and only to intervene when they deemed it necessary. He had explained the situation to them briefly. Sweet Pea made sure he looked as intimidating as possible as he angrily knocked at the door. He clenched his hands into fists and waited, his body tensing as he heard someone on the other side. A middle-aged man opened the door, and Sweet Pea knew immediately who he was. 

"Well, hello. And who would you be?" the man asked with fake politeness. Anger made its way through Sweet Pea's veins and he gritted his teeth. 

"Where is she?" he demanded, his voice booming through the silent street. 

"Now, now. Don't get ahead of yourself, you don't-"

"Sweet Pea?" a broken voice called out quietly from inside the house. Sweet Pea noticed Lauren appearing from around the corner and everything froze. Her pretty face was filled with bruises, her left eye showing a black eye and a cut on her upper lift. 

He could tell from the way she held herself that the bruises on her face were not the only ones. 

He stared at her, bewildered. The sight of her looking so broken, made his insides turn, and instead of his usual rage he only felt empty and devastated.

He snapped out of his trance and used his full body weight to push himself past her father to get to her. Her father reacted quickly, and grabbed Sweet Pea’s arm, managing to pull him back. 

"This is between me and my baby girl. You need to leave." her father hissed through gritted teeth. At the sound of the two words something inside of Sweet Pea snapped, and before they could blink, his fist connected with the man’s jaw.

Lauren did not expect Sweet Pea to flip so abruptly and violently, and watched apathetic as Sweet Pea hit her father in a rage she had never seen him in. She knew she should try to stop him, but in her sick mind she enjoyed her father being beaten up for once. At the same time, she relished the feeling of having someone who was willing to protect her with everything. 

"I'm gonna kill you." Sweet Pea growled, a murderous expression on his face. "You're never going to touch her again. You hear me?!" 

He hit her father again and again, his rings crunching against the skin. Tears formed in her eyes as she realized what he was about to do. As fast as she could, she ran towards them. Sweet Pea was caught in a tunnel vision, his fists continuously hitting his opponents face. 

"Sweet Pea, please stop," she whimpered as the tears streamed down her cheeks,and held him back on his arm. He didn't seem to notice that she was there, his eyes darkening with every punch. 

"Stop! You're going to kill him!" she yelled as loudly as she could, using all of her strength to pull at his Serpent jacket. Finally something got through to him, and he stopped. He turned around to face her, completely bewildered. His hands completely raw and bleeding, his breathing fast, his eyes staring at her with a crazed look. 

"Look at him. He's not gonna move for a while, okay?" she tried to assure him, her hands reaching out for his hand, her fingers wrapping themselves around his. 

"I'm okay." she whispered. 

"No, you're not" Sweet Pea replied, the anger still running through his veins. Lauren let out a sob and leaned against his torso, his arms immediately wrapping around her protectively. 

"Let's go." she whispered against his leather jacket.

The whole way to Sweet Pea’s trailer Lauren kept crying silent tears. She clenched her hands into his jacket, needing to hold onto something. 

Back at the trailer, Lauren sat down on the couch, trying to slow her breathing, so she wouldn’t panic again, while she watched Sweet Pea pace back and forth in the kitchen, his chest heaving. He hadn’t said a word since they left her house, and Lauren was worried about his state of mind. She knew that if she hadn’t stopped him, he could’ve killed her father, and as much she wanted her father to be dead, she couldn’t allow Sweet Pea to carry that burden. 

“Sweet Pea, are you okay?” she asked gently, not wanting to upset him further. He stopped dead in his tracks, whipping his head around to look at her. She had to swallow hard upon seeing the crazed look in his eyes.

“I should be the one asking you that.” he said, raking his fingers through his hair. Lauren bit her lip.

“Don’t bother, I don’t have the answer you want to hear.” Lauren said, shrugged her shoulders, but then hissed at the pain it caused her. Sweet Pea narrowed his eyes at her actions, walked to the shelf to retrieve something from it, and then slowly walked over to her. He sat down beside her and stretched out his hand, two white pills laying on it.

“What is this?” Lauren asked frowning, immediately hissing again as the bruises and cuts on her face protested. 

Sweet Pea grimaced, like her pain was also hurting him. “Painkillers, you should take them, so you can sleep later.” he explained after a small pause. 

“I’m not gonna be able to sleep anyway.”she admitted. She knew what awaited her. Every time this had happened to her, it had taken her weeks to get the pictures out of her mind. The physical pain never compared to the emotional trauma. 

“At least you won’t be in as much pain.” he sighed. Lauren let out a deep breath and looked at him hesitantly, but took the pills out of his hand nevertheless. She knew that they wouldn’t help, she’d been through this enough as a child, but she was happy to do it for Sweet Pea, and they certainly wouldn’t do any damage. Sweet Pea stood up to bring her some water, and watched as she carefully swallowed the pills. 

“I should clean up the wounds.” Lauren’s voice cut through the silence. Slowly and carefully she stood up so she wouldn’t cause more pain.

“Sit down. I can do it.” Sweet Pea said, raising his hand as to lay it down on her shoulder but he thought better and just gestured her to sit down. 

“Sweet Pea, I’ve done this before. You don’t need to treat me with kid gloves.” she argued. 

Sweet Pea sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m not letting you do this alone. Your circulation is probably fucked up and I’m not going to let you pass out on me” he made clear. Lauren was too tired to put up a fight, and so she sat back down and let him clean up her face. 

It took him about twenty minutes to clean up her wounds and put band-aids on the worse ones. Despite trying not to, she had to hiss a few times and she felt bad whenever Sweet Pea grimaced at her display of pain. She wished she’d be strong enough to not make a sound. 

When Sweet Pea was finished, he helped her to lie down on the bed. Lauren sighed as she sunk into the mattress, and closed her eyes, the weight of the events of the past days finally crashing down on her. She had to swallow hard, and when she opened her eyes there were tears falling down on her cheeks. Sweet Pea sat down next to her, and ran his fingers through her hair comfortingly.

“I shouldn’t cry, it’ll only make my head hurt more” she whispered, but Sweet Pea didn’t respond to her words.

Instead he asked her something she didn’t feel like answering.

“How long has this been going on?” 

Lauren sighed, she didn’t want to tell him, but she had sworn to herself that she wouldn’t lie to him again after last time.

“Three days.” 

Sweet Pea’s eyes narrowed and he grimaced. He looked close to crying, Lauren could see the water in his eyes, before he looked away.

“It’s your not fault. You couldn’t have known” Lauren said, reassuring him. She knew that he probably felt an enormous amount of guilt, and she couldn’t let him carry that around. 

Sweet Pea clenched his fists. “No, but you didn’t tell me because of our fight, that’s on me.”

“We fought because of what I did, so don’t you dare blame this on yourself” Lauren argued. She couldn’t believe that he was blaming himself. She should’ve fought against her fear of her father and told Sweet Pea about it. 

“Whatever.” Sweet Pea mumbled and walked over to the kitchen area while Lauren tried to find a comfortable sleeping position. The bruises on her stomach and her back made it hard, but she eventually found a position to lie in. The pain wasn’t fully gone, but at least it wasn’t as bad as before. It seemed like it had been a good idea to take the painkillers. And besides, Lauren had learned how to endure physical pain. She had survived this before, she could do it again. 

She wondered what Sweet Pea was doing, but couldn’t bear moving. Her eyelids felt heavier by the second and she hoped she would drift off to sleep. Closing her eyes, her body relaxed and exhaustion took over. The last thing she heard before the darkness consumed her, was Sweet Pea’s voice from the kitchen.

“Toni, hey. Listen, can you and Fangs come over? There’s something we need to take care of.”


	10. Getaway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I'm done with my exams here is Chapter 10. I hope you enjoy it!

After Toni had assured him that she was going to get Fangs and come over, Sweet Pea made himself a cup of coffee. He expected this to be a long night. With the cup in his hand, he made his way towards the bed where Lauren was lying in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position, flat on her back. Sweet Pea had only spent two nights with her, but both times she had been sleeping on her side, not her back. 

Sweet Pea sat down beside her and wondered if she was awake or not, smiling when he discovered that she was sleeping.

 _Good._ he thought. _She needs all the sleep she can get._

Sweet Pea didn’t kid himself, he knew that the next days wouldn’t be easy. From what she had told him, the abuse had stopped for two years, and now these barely closed wounds had been ripped open once again. 

He sighed, burying his head in his hands. He couldn’t get the image of her stepping around the corner bruised and battered out of his head. The thought of her having endured this before was excruciating, and so he thought about all the ways he could hurt her father to stop thinking about her getting beat up.

Just as he was about to get up to get another coffee, he heard a knock at the door. Assuming that it was Toni and Fangs, he got up and opened the door.

“So what’s the super important matter?” Toni asked, barging in with Fangs following close behind. Sweet Pea shushed her, a bit startled but relieved it was only his friends. 

Toni rolled her eyes. “Don’t shush me. What’s going on?” she asked, turning on her heels and stopping when she saw Lauren. “Is that…Lauren? What is she doing here?” she frowned.

“Wait, that’s your Northsider girl?” Fangs interrupted.

“Yes, that’s her.” Sweet Pea answered reluctantly, rolling his eyes. 

“Is she the reason you called us here? Did something happen to her?” Toni asked, turning around to face him, a concerned look on her face. 

Sweet Pea sighed, shoving his hands in the front pockets of his pants. “Yeah. Listen, Lauren’s father-”

A scream interrupted him. It came from the direction of the bedroom and made Sweet Pea’s insides turn. The three of them shared a worried look, before Sweet Pea turned on his heels and barged into the bedroom. 

Lauren was sitting up against the wall, shivers running over her whole body. Her eyes were wide and she was breathing fast. She didn’t notice him standing there, her eyes fixated on the wall in front of her. Sweet Pea slowly made his way to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed carefully so he wouldn’t scare her even more. 

Lauren woke up hearing someone scream. Startled, she looked around, trying to figure out who was making that noise. It took her a few seconds to realise that she was the one who had let out the scream. She swallowed, trying to control her fastening heart rate. She threw the blanket away. She stared at the wall in front of her, trying to remember what had caused her to scream. 

She knew that she had fled from her house with Sweet Pea and then she had lied down to try to get some rest. Was it possible that she had fallen asleep?

“Lauren, are you okay? What happened?” Sweet Pea’s voice cut through her racing thoughts. 

Slowly, she turned around to look at him. His eyes were soft but Lauren could detect worry in them. She hated herself for putting that worried look on his face, even though deep down she knew that what had happened to her was not her fault. 

“I think… I had a nightmare” she answered softly, explaining herself. Sweet Pea raised his hand and ran it through her hair, trying to soothe her anguish. 

“It’s okay, you’re safe here. I’m not going anywhere.” he assured her.

Lauren nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder. “You know I wouldn’t hold it against you… this is not going to be pretty. I’m gonna be messed up for a while” she told him, giving him an out in case this was too much for him. Most people she had entrusted her secret to, had eventually decided that it was too much to deal with and had left her. There was no reason why it would be different this time.   
_Sweet Pea loves you,_ a voice inside her brain whispered. _I know,_ she answered back. _That doesn’t mean he is not going to leave me eventually._

Sweet Pea narrowed his eyes and tension filled his body. “I’m not gonna leave because it’s the easy thing to do. I’m not a coward.” he clarified, his voice booming. 

Lauren swallowed, lifted her head and nodded. She wanted to believe him, but she had her doubts. Everyone who ever knew about the abuse had eventually left her. Her mother had too much trouble with herself to help Lauren and Lauren’s older brother Tom had never really cared, always siding with their father whenever trouble occurred which was why she hadn’t seen him since he had moved to New York five years ago. 

“You need anything?” Sweet Pea asked her.

Lauren shook her head. “No, I think I’m just gonna rest…” she told him. Sweet Pea didn’t seem convinced but he didn’t argue with her. 

“Okay. Call me if you need anything” he said and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Lauren smiled at him, and then turned to the left to watch him leave. She caught the eyes of Toni and another guy that she identified as Sweet Pea’s friend Fangs. They both gasped at the sight of Lauren’s bruised face, Toni’s hand flying up to her mouth in shock. 

Lauren gritted her teeth to stop the tears forming in her eyes. She didn’t want them to stare at her, so she turned her head and stared at the wall in front of her. 

Sweet Pea walked back defeated. Toni was shaking her head in disgust. “Her father did this to her?” she asked, her voice laced in anger, her tiny hands balled into fists. Sweet Pea crossed his arms and nodded.

“What about her mother?” Fangs asked. 

Sweet Pea laughed bitterly. “There’s no way she could count on her, she’s a junkie.” he explained. 

“No wonder she got high the minute she had a problem.” Toni threw in, her empathetic eyes fixed on Lauren. 

“Wait, she actually got high?” Fangs asked, sounding shocked. 

“Yeah” Sweet Pea admitted. “A few nights ago she called up one of her mother’s drug dealer, and mixed Jingle Jangle with Vodka. Luckily, Toni saw her and stopped her from running into someone else.” he explained to his friend.

“Woah, that sounds like she has a lot of problems” Fangs commented, the pity clear in his voice. 

Sweet Pea sighed. He couldn’t exactly tell them that Lauren had been fine - except that one time she had pushed him off of her because he had triggered her with the use of a nickname - before she had covered up someone else’s murder, had been pushed by Peyton to use him as an alibi, then had been pressured into breaking into the Sheriff’s station, only to be left alone by her friend.   
Sweet Pea knew that she wasn’t totally blameless in this situation, she could’ve said no to Peyton’s ideas, but he was mindful enough to know that she acted in an absolute irrational state of mind. 

So yeah, she had been fine, until that asshole of a father had decided to pay her a visit. Sweet Pea’s veins still burned with anger, but more than that, he had a bad conscience about not having picked up the signs earlier. If he had listened to his intuition at school today, he could’ve saved her from an entire day of more pain. 

Sweet Pea only nodded. He wanted to tell his friends what was really going on, so he wasn’t the only one who knew and had to carry the burden but he remained quiet. 

“We have to do something about this.” Toni voiced, her face still frozen into a grimace of disgust. 

“Yeah, there must be something we can do so that asshole leaves her alone.” Fangs added. 

“Let’s get some coffee and think about it,” Toni suggested and went to sit down at the table, Fangs following her. 

Sweet Pea took one last look at Lauren who was still sitting on the bed staring at the wall with her knees drawn closely to her body. He pushed his worry aside, so he could think clearly and made coffee for the three of them. 

 

“So I guess we should start with what we know about Lauren’s father?” Fangs suggested, once they all had their coffee and Sweet Pea had sat down. 

“I don’t know if I should…” he admitted, putting his face in his hands. Lauren had told him about her father in confidence. He didn’t think he should spread that information around, even if it was to his best friends.

Toni grabbed his hand reassuringly. “I don’t know her like you do but from what you told us I don’t think she’d mind if you told us everything you know about her father if it helps to get him to back off.” she assured him, a warm smile on her face. 

Sweet Pea sighed. “He is a rich ass businessman and has a firm somewhere in New York. Apparently the abuse has been ongoing since her childhood, but Lauren’s brain blurred out most of those memories. Her mother couldn’t take it so she started using drugs… and left Lauren defenseless. Two years ago he bought Lauren and her mother off, so they wouldn't go to the police. That’s why they have so much money.” he explained as short as possible. 

The story didn't leave Fangs and Toni cold. Multiple times they grimaced at his words, Toni even going as far as hitting the table with her tiny fists. 

“Can’t she go to the police and tell them?” Fangs asked. 

“He bought them off, remember?” Toni cut in.

“Screw the money. I’d rather be poor than to be repeatedly abused.”

“I don’t think that that is how abuse works, Fangs,” Toni said. “It probably twists with your mind so much that you don’t think that going to the police is an option.”

Sweet Pea sighed at their exchange. He turned his head to look at Lauren’s silhouette, then he shook his head and looked back at his friends. “Like Toni said, Lauren doesn’t think that the police is an option…” he said. Usually, he’d agree that the police was the best option but he knew that she didn’t want to attract any sort of attention from the cops. Especially now.  
“She’s scared that they will take custody away from her mother...”

“Doesn’t she have any other family members that could take her in?” Fangs asked.

“She has an older brother… but as far as I know he is in the same league as their father,” he grimaced at the thought of her older brother not supporting his little sister. If he’d be in his position he’d do everything to protect Lauren from the evil she called her father. “So no, no other family members that could or would help her.”

“Unbelievable,” Fangs mumbled, frowning. Toni put her head in her hands, and closed her eyes as if she was thinking. 

“There must be something else we can do,” she thought out loud. 

“We could get the boys together and go over there…” Fangs suggested, a dark look on his face. He didn’t really know Lauren that much but she was important to Sweet Pea, so he’d do anything to keep her safe. 

As much as something dark inside of Sweet Pea yearned for revenge and the blood of Lauren’s father, he knew that he couldn’t go over there without doing something he’d come to regret. Toni looked at Sweet Pea with doubt in her eyes. Like always, she managed to have some sort of idea of what he was thinking, 

“Trust me, I want to go over there. I want to punch him until he can’t move anymore, until he has to drag himself along the floor, and his face is no longer unrecognizable. I want him to suffer until his miserable life ends…” he described his wishes, his eyes turning dark, his nails digging into his skin from fisting his hands too hard. He lost himself in his violent thoughts for a minute but one look at Lauren lying on his bed brought him out of it.

“But I can’t do that,” Sweet Pea said as Toni let out a small breath. “Lauren wouldn’t want me to put myself into danger just so I can fulfill my revenge fantasies… Right now it’s more important to keep her together so she won’t fall apart” he added. He knew that doing something to her father right now would only escalate, and possibly bring even more harm to Lauren’s fragile state of mind. 

“So let us do that for you. I can get some of the boys together, and we’ll scare him a little so he permanently fucks off to New York” Fangs suggested, cracking his knuckles. 

Toni raised her eyebrows, as if she had something to say to that. Fangs noticed too and so he turned around to look at her. “It’s just… Is it really so easy to scare someone who abused their daughter for so long?” she voiced her doubt, frowning. 

“It’s not,” a shaky voice interrupted. Sweet Pea, Toni and Fangs all turned around to look at Lauren who stood at the edge of the table, her hands shaking. 

Lauren cowered a bit under their gazes, the instinct of making herself smaller being more prominent after the last three days. Fangs looked away immediately, like he had done something wrong, while Toni and Sweet Pea looked at her with concern in their eyes.

Lauren moved a streak of her hair behind her ear, so she would have something to do with her hands. “Couldn’t sleep anymore,” she mumbled as an explanation and then proceeded to gently sit down beside Sweet Pea, who immediately took her hand in his. Lauren smiled lightly at his gesture and squeezed his hand gently. He probably wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t leave and get herself in danger again. 

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while until Lauren decided to break it. She understood that Toni and Fangs didn’t know how to approach her, especially now that she looked like a human punching bag, but she wanted them to know what sort of person her father was.

“He isn’t afraid of any sort of pain. Hell, he probably likes it, being the sadist that he is…” she explained, looking at the table in front of her, her body tensing and her voice croaking like she’d lose it if she continued talking. Sweet Pea squeezed her hand again, giving her strength to carry on. 

“The only thing he cares about is his stupid firm and his money, that’s why he settled on being in danger of getting caught by the police or child services for so long. Only when I threatened to tell someone, he bought my mother off…” she continued. She had to let out a small laugh when she thought of the money that had been sent their way. “Although, my mom has probably used up half of it already for drugs and booze.” she thought out loud, frowning.

Neither Toni nor Fangs said anything, and Lauren asked herself if she really looked that bad or if they were just being extra careful to not hurt her even more. Or maybe it was Sweet Pea’s intense stare that made them glue their lips together. She almost rolled her eyes but refrained from it. She knew that Sweet Pea’s friends only meant well, and seeing her beat up had probably shaken them up a bit. 

“I’m gonna get some coffee,” Lauren said, sick of the silence and the concerned looks. She knew that the bruises and cuts on her face looked gruesome, her paleness and her shaking hands probably made her look like she would pass out any minute, but she didn’t like these pitiful looks Toni and Fangs kept sending her. Sweet Pea’s expression was even worse. He looked like he was in immense pain too, and Lauren didn’t know if he’d start crying or start punching something any second, so she settled for taking herself out of the situation.

She wanted to stand up but Sweet Pea’s hand held her back. She ignored the urge to roll her eyes or worse, scream at him to let her go. “I’m not gonna fall apart by standing up and going to the coffee machine.” she told him. 

Sweet Pea reluctantly let go of her hand and Lauren made her way to the coffee machine which was still broken. She had to hit it with her right hand - the hand that luckily hadn’t been bruised - before it worked. 

While Lauren was standing at the coffee machine, waiting for it to work, Fangs leaned over the edge of the table, so Sweet Pea and Toni could hear him. “I have an idea…” he mumbled. “But we should wait for Lauren to be asleep or away to talk about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Olive (go visit her at @southsidepea on Tumblr!) for your amazing editing as always! 
> 
> Also I have no idea when the next chapter is gonna be up, as my laptop is gonna repairing and I don't know how long that will take. (Also I could write on my phone, but meh.)


End file.
